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Georgia Senate elections live updates: Jon Ossoff projected to win Ga. Senate seat
The projected win cements Democrats' control of the Senate.
ABC News projected early Wednesday that Rev. Raphael Warnock will win the race against Kelly Loeffler and on Wednesday afternoon that Jon Ossoff is projected to defeat David Perdue. Together, the two projected wins hand Democrats control of the Senate.
For live updates on the vote totals, click here.
Top headlines:
Stacey Abrams tweets encouraging note to Dems as Warnock takes leads
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and founder of Fair Fight, sent an encouraging tweet to supporters moments after Warnock took the lead over Loeffler in his Senate race with 95% of the expected vote reporting in.
“With new votes joining the tally, we are on a strong path. But even while we wait for more, let’s celebrate the extraordinary organizers, volunteers, canvassers & tireless groups that haven’t stopped going since Nov. Across our state, we roared. A few miles to go...but well done!” Abrams tweeted.
Gabriel Sterling, the state voting system implementation manager, said at an earlier election update that the largest portion of remaining uncounted votes was out of DeKalb County, a heavily Democratic suburban Atlanta area.
Election official says biggest tranche of uncounted votes from Dem county
Gabriel Sterling, the state voting system implementation manager, said in an evening election update that the largest portion of remaining uncounted votes is from DeKalb County, a heavily Democratic suburban Atlanta area.
"The biggest tranche of votes that exists out there in a single bucket right now still looks to be the advanced voting in DeKalb County," Sterling said.
With 80% of the expected vote reporting in, GOP candidates Perdue and Loeffler are leading their races by small margins.
Sterling said from the press conference in Atlanta that he wasn't aware of any issues that could delay the reporting but added, "It can be like seesaw for the rest of the evening."
Sterling said 64 of the state's 159 counties have completed reporting all votes.
-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan
Georgia politician says Trump's claims of fraud 'absolutely' depressed GOP turnout
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, told ABC News Live he's worried that President Donald Trump's baseless allegations of election fraud in the state "absolutely" might have depressed GOP turnout in the runoff races.
"Unfortunately, too many folks in our party over the last two months have been talking about misinformation, election fraud and creating a distraction," Duncan said.
"We've been outworked, out-focused, but my hope is that Kelly Loeffler's and David Purdue's hard work over the last two months is going to get them across the finish line and help us kind of regroup as a party here in this state, and also as a country, and be able to roll back out and get the White House in 2024," he added.
Biden's agenda could hang in balance of runoff races
ABC News Chief Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce stressed the significance of Tuesday's runoffs, not only because they will determine control of the Senate but because they leave President-elect Joe Biden's agenda hanging in the balance.
"It's not just how much he can get done but also the expediency with which he might be able to get things done," Bruce said, outlining big promises in Biden's agenda, from health care to climate change.
Biden has noted in recent days, while stumping for Democratic candidates, that if Democrats are able to win both seats, the $2,000 stimulus checks Democrats have been pushing for could happen immediately. Also, the approval of additional aid to state and local governments and resources to distribute the coronavirus vaccine in a more timely fashion could come quickly.
"Not to say that Joe Biden's agenda would hit a complete brick wall if Republicans continue to maintain control in the Senate because, of course, Joe Biden prides himself on having a great working and personal relationship with Republican leader Mitch McConnell, but it certainly would make Joe Biden's agenda and his political ambitions here much, much, much easier," Bruce said.
Bruce also noted how the expected efforts by Republicans to object to the certification of the Electoral College results on Wednesday could give the public a sense of the "uphill battle" Biden may face if the GOP does maintain control of the Senate.
DeKalb County returns boost Dems
While Loeffler and Perdue have carried the lead in the Senate races for most of the night, with the bulk of votes in DeKalb County coming in, Warnock is leading Loeffler statewide, and Ossoff is close behind Perdue.
In DeKalb County, a Democratic stronghold where a massive amount of votes came in, Ossoff currently leads 82.5% to Perdue’s 17.5%. Warnock leads 83.2% to Loeffler’s 16.8%.
"Now you may be asking why is Warnock not doing much better than Ossoff?" said ABC News Chief National Affairs Correspondent Tom Llamas. "If you essentially come out and you look at all the counties that surround Atlanta, Warnock is over-performing Ossoff by about 2,000 votes so far in each of those counties."
According to the secretary of state’s website hosting the unofficial election results, there were at least 1,231,662 votes cast on Tuesday that have been counted so far -- a high turnout for runoff elections.
-ABC News' Meg Cunningham, Kendall Karson and Quinn Scanlan