Ga. Senate runoff live updates: Warnock celebrates win, Walker admits defeat

The election was the final battle of the 2022 midterms.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Tal Axelrod, Isabella Murray, Meredith Deliso, and Lalee Ibssa
Last Updated: December 27, 2022, 10:47 AM EST

Georgia's Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker came to a close on Tuesday, with Warnock projected by ABC News to defeat Walker, after more than a year of campaigning, multiple controversies and record-breaking turnout.

While the race didn't determine control of the Senate, it did increase Democrats' power in the chamber -- where Vice President Kamala Harris currently has to break ties -- rather than see the Republicans win a 50th seat and create procedural obstacles.

Walker, a businessman and local football legend, and Warnock, a noted reverend in Atlanta, first faced off in November's general election. But neither got 50% of the vote as required by state law, leading to Tuesday's runoff after about a week of early voting.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Dec 06, 2022, 10:22 PM EST

Biden says: 'We're going to win Georgia'

As he stepped off Air Force Once on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter to comment on the election in Georgia.

"We're going to win," he replied on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, after returning from a trip to Arizona.

“We’re going to win,” President Joe Biden replied to a reporter’s question on the Senate runoff election in Georgia as he stepped off Air Force One Tuesday night.
0:26

Biden: 'We're going to win Georgia'

“We’re going to win,” President Joe Biden replied to a reporter’s question on the Senate runoff election in Georgia as he stepped off Air Force One Tuesday night.
ABCNews.com

"We're going to win Georgia."

He then boarded his vehicle to drive back into Washington.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Dec 06, 2022, 10:21 PM EST

Inside Warnock headquarters as vote tallies come in

ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, reporting from inside Warnock's headquarters on Tuesday night, said the energy in the room was like a "block party."

"The music somehow gets louder, you have a choir singing over my shoulder here," Scott told "ABC News Live Prime" anchor Linsey Davis.

"People in this room, I can tell you Linsey, they are feeling very confident," Scott later reported. "Just moments ago they said, 'We are almost across the finish line.' This race is still too close to call. Big picture, yes it is tight, but the campaign is keeping their eyes on some of those areas ... right around Atlanta where the votes are still being counted right now. They know that if they do well there and those Democratic-leaning areas, they're going to be on track to have a good night."

Dec 06, 2022, 10:12 PM EST

Where tallies stand in metro Atlanta

Amid the tight race so far, here's what percentage of the expected vote remains uncounted in several Democratic-leaning metro Atlanta counties:

DeKalb County: 35%
Fulton County: 33%
Cobb County: 15%
Gwinnett County: 10%

Dec 06, 2022, 10:10 PM EST

FiveThirtyEight analysis: What a Warnock win could signal for national Republicans

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver gives an analysis of the potential Warnock victory: So if the trend here holds, Republicans are going to wind up not picking up even a single Democratic-held Senate seat. That’s pretty hard to do. Even in 1998 and 2002 (relatively bad midterms for the opposition party), they did pick up at least one Senate seat while others flipped in the other direction.

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