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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.


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Perdue campaign says race is 'exceptionally close'

Perdue's campaign team released a statement early Wednesday, saying the race is "exceptionally close" but that they believe the incumbent Republican senator "will be victorious."

"As we've said repeatedly over the last several weeks and as recently as this evening, this is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," the Perdue campaign said. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted. We believe in the end, Senator Perdue will be victorious."

The race between Perdue and his Democratic challenger, Ossoff, is too close to call as votes are still being tallied.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan


Ossoff campaign releases statement projecting confidence

Ossoff’s campaign manager, Ellen Foster, released a statement early Wednesday saying that when all the votes are counted, their team "fully" expects Ossoff will win his Senate runoff against Perdue.

"The outstanding vote is squarely in parts of the state where Jon’s performance has been dominant," Foster said. "We look forward to seeing the process through in the coming hours and moving ahead so Jon can start fighting for all Georgians in the U.S. Senate."

If Democrats win both Senate seats in Georgia, each party will have 50 senators, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be the tie-breaking vote for Democrats in the Senate.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan


ABC News projects Warnock defeats Loeffler

Warnock, a prominent Black preacher who leads the storied Ebenezer Baptist Church, secured a barrier-breaking victory in Georgia on Tuesday night.

The native-born son, who delivers sermons from the pulpit that once belonged to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will become the first Black senator from Georgia -- a feat that closes out an election cycle dominated by the role of race in politics.

He is only the second Black senator elected from the south since Reconstruction, and among a rare class of 10 Black Americans who have served in the upper chamber.

ABC News projected just before 2 a.m. that Warnock will topple Loeffler, a prominent Republican donor and staunch ally of President Trump who earned political office after being appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to the seat.

In the remaining Georgia Senate race between Ossoff and Perdue, there is less than 1% separating the two candidates and so, the race is too close to project.

-ABC News' Kendall Karson


Warnock declares victory against Loeffler, pushes message of unity

Up by roughly 35,000 votes statewide, Warnock declared victory in Georgia with a virtual speech to supporters in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator,” Warnock said.

ABC News has not made a projection on the race, but if Warnock wins, the native-born son, who delivers sermons from the pulpit that once belonged to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will become the first Black senator from Georgia.

“So I come before you tonight as a man who knows that the improbable journey that led me to this place in the historic moment in America could only happen here,” Warnock continued. “May my story be an inspiration to some young person who is trying to grasp and grab hold of the American dream.”

Taking a page from President-elect Joe Biden's playbook, Warnock went on to say he'd be a senator for those who didn't vote for him as much as for those who did support him.

“To everyone out there struggling today, whether you voted for me or not, know this, I hear you, I see you. And every day I'm in the United States Senate, I will fight for you,” he said.


Early voting turnout breaks records, Tuesday turnout too early to call 

More than 3 million voters in the Georgia runoff elections cast their ballots early -- 1,018,381 by mail and 2,074,994 early in-person -- according to Georgia Votes, already a record-setting figure for runoff elections.

The total early vote so far also includes 123,079 who did not participate in November's general election -- which is 35,000 more votes than the margin that separated Sen. David Perdue and Jon Ossoff the first time around, when the incumbent Republican edged out his challenger by just over 88,000 votes. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock were competing in a jungle primary in which the large field diluted their vote shares.

The secretary of state's office won't have Tuesday's in-person turnout numbers until at least 1 p.m. on Wednesday when counties are required to report how many ballots they received Tuesday in order to calculate the number of outstanding ballots. It may take days for the final results to become available depending on how close the races are.

Republicans are relying on high Election Day turnout, believing close to a million votes on Tuesday is likely their path to victory. At a rally in Dalton on Monday night, President Donald Trump signaled how many votes Republicans are eyeing: "I guess we have to get over a million votes tomorrow, right, Kelly? Over a million. All right. That's a lot of votes, Kelly, but we'll do it."

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan, Kendall Karson and Meg Cunningham