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.


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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.


How Warnock will make history again

Warnock is projected to make history yet again as the senator of Georgia.

In 2021, he became the first Black senator from Georgia after winning a runoff for a partial term.

With ABC News projecting him to win the Tuesday runoff against Walker, Warnock will become the first Black senator elected to a full six-year term in the state.

Either winner of the close race would have achieved that barrier-breaking feat.

Warnock became only the second Black senator elected from the South since the Reconstruction era, when he won last year's runoff against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.


Warnock projected to defeat Walker, expanding Democrats' Senate majority

Warnock has defeated Walker in Tuesday's runoff election in Georgia, ABC News projects.

Warnock's victory means Democrats will expand their majority in the chamber to 51 seats, compared to Republicans' 49.

The Georgia runoff was the final election of the 2022 midterms.


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 Georgia."

He then boarded his vehicle to drive back into Washington.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson


Walker's son Christian excoriates his father amid results

Walker’s son was quick to respond to his father’s projected loss in the election, implying that the number of controversies that arose throughout his campaign -- many of which Walker has denied or dismissed as political smears -- contributed to his defeat.

Christian Walker, a conservative social media personality, recently became openly critical of his dad. He denounced Herschel Walker in a series of social media posts and videos in early October after the candidate denied a Daily Beast report that he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion in 2009. Herschel Walker has campaigned for the Senate as an anti-abortion politician.

In a string of tweets Tuesday night, the younger Walker touched on many of scandals swirling around the candidate, including those related to abortion, allegations of past domestic violence and absentee parenting.

“Chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family,” he wrote in one tweet.

“The Truth: Trump called my dad for months DEMANDING that he run. Everyone with a brain begged him: “PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS,” Christian Walker continued..

Later, during an audio-only event on Twitter when he took questions about his thoughts of his father and the election, Christian Walker told ABC News it had been a while since they spoke but he didn't rule out a reconciliation at some point.

"It's hard because I'm angry right now. But you know, I need some time to breathe, I know, I'll say that," he said. "And honestly, the thing that I want most out of him is, at the end of the day, gosh, time flies, like I'm an adult. So I'm grown. I'm making money ... Go be the best dad."

Herschel Walker tweeted in October, in response to some of Christian Walker's criticisms. "I LOVE my son no matter what."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.