Georgia Senate runoff live updates: Warnock celebrates win, Walker admits defeat
The election was the final battle of the 2022 midterms.
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:
ABC political director explains 'seesawing' results
ABC News Political Director Rick Klein, with 75% of the expected vote in, commented Tuesday night on the race between Warnock and Walker.
"A month ago they ran and it was settled by less than a percentage point, and this is tracking more like a 1- or 2-point race as opposed to a 3-point or 4-point race," Klein said on "ABC News Live Prime."
"This is looking very close despite some indications there might be a chance for Raphael Warnock to really open up a larger margin," Klein added.
Walker and Warnock have been trading leads as votes continue to be counted. Klein attributed the "seesawing" to early voting leaning Democratic, while rural counties lean Republican. Vote tallies are now starting to come in from Atlanta and the surrounding suburban areas, where Warnock is winning by a large margin.
"Because we have so much vote left outside the Atlanta area, the Warnock campaign has to feel a little bit better about its chances," Klein said.
More analysis can be watched below.
FiveThirtyEight analysis: Warnock still favored in counties with most reporting in
FiveThirtyEight's Geoffrey Skelley gives this initial analysis in their live blog of the ongoing results: Checking in on the trends in the 32 counties where at least 95% of the vote has reported, it’s not good enough so far for Walker to overtake Warnock. So far, Warnock is doing 0.6 points better across the total vote from those places. Now, we’re a long way from knowing where things end up because those counties only made up about 6% of the November vote. But we’re starting to get enough data points to make Warnock at least a slight favorite at this point.
Georgia sees 'record turnout across the board,' official says
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state's office, said in a news conference on Tuesday evening that it looked like Georgia had 1.4 million people cast their votes on Election Day.
"This was the most in-person voting we've had since the launch of the new system," Sterling said. "It looks like we probably beat the Election Day vote of November 2022, which was the highest. And we know it was more than November 2020, and it was more than the runoff in 2021."
"We have record turnout across the board," Sterling added. "We had record turnout for a runoff in a midterm. We had record turnout for early voting. We had a record use of absentee ballots. This system in place allows voters ease of use, their choice of freestyle voting and essentially, on Election Day, no lines."
Before Tuesday, nearly 1.9 million Georgians had already voted early or cast an absentee ballot last week.
What changes in Senate if Warnock wins the seat
If Warnock keeps his spot in the Senate, that means a 51-seat majority for Democrats after their other wins in the midterms, which would make governing much easier than the current 50-50 split.
That includes confirming judges -- one of the few things that can be done in the Senate with a simple majority. With a Supreme Court dominated by Republican-nominated justices, Democrats have been eager to fill the lower courts with more liberal justices. A 51-seat majority could allow Democrats to move judges through the Senate confirmation process even faster, leaving them with more floor time to work on even more nominees or on other pieces of legislation they want to bring to a vote.
When it comes to legislation, Democrats would have the upper hand moving any of their legislation out of committee and to the floor for a vote with a 51-seat Senate. It would also give Democrats more breathing room when it comes to passing legislation by curtailing the influence of a single dissenting senator.
Additionally, Democrats would have a bit more security if a Supreme Court vacancy should open in the next two years.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin
Scenes from Election Day in Georgia
Georgia voters turned out to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the Senate runoff election between Warnock and Walker.
ABC News has projected that Warnock will win the runoff, making him Georgia’s first Black full-term senator. He has served in the seat since 2021, when he won a runoff against GOP incumbent Kelly Loeffler.
Photos showed supporters of both campaigns gathering to watch results come in.
Filmmaker Spike Lee rallied the crowd at an election night watch party for Warnock in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Voters shattered turnout records this runoff election. Despite rainy weather in parts of the state, some 1.4 million people cast a ballot on Tuesday, according to state officials.