OVERTIME! Senate race goes to runoff as no candidate hits 50%
Georgians to return to polls on December 6
Georgia voters will be inundated with another four weeks of negative television advertisements, as the race for U.S. Senate is now set for a runoff election on December 6, according to projections.
Neither Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger Herschel Walker reached the 50% threshold Tuesday night. Georgia requires runoff elections to be held if no candidate earns more than 50% of the vote.
It’s an all too familiar situation for the Peach State. Just two years ago, control of the U.S. Senate came down to two Senate runoff elections in Georgia, which decided the fate of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
And it’s a rare encouraging spot for Democrats in Georgia, as Gov. Brian Kemp easily won re-election Tuesday and Republicans appear to have held onto all of the statewide constitutional offices.
Other key Senate races have not been called yet, but a runoff election in Georgia could once again determine which party controls Congress. Democrats flipped a GOP-held Senate seat in Pennsylvania, and they currently lead in Arizona. Republicans are currently ahead in Nevada.
Many analysts took note of Walker’s underperformance Tuesday night. The Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate earned more than 2% of the vote, whereas the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate earned less than 1%.
Walker also ran behind Brian Kemp in several solidly Republican counties, from Forsyth, to Hall and Cherokee. It’s a sign that the former UGA football star is struggling to energize the Republican base.
Sen. Warnock seems to have outperformed Stacey Abrams and even matched President Joe Biden in many metro Atlanta Democratic strongholds. He also held his own in his home county of Chatham.
But as many critical Senate races remain uncalled, it is unclear what the dynamics of a Georgia runoff will look like. If either Democrats or Republicans win both Arizona and Nevada, they would have won control of the Senate without the Georgia runoff. But if the two races are split, Georgia will once again determine control of the Senate. Where have we seen that before?