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Warnock wins Georgia runoff, giving Democrats 51 seats in Senate

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured reelection Tuesday, defeating GOP candidate Herschel Walker in the Georgia runoff. His victory solidifies the state鈥檚 place as a Deep South battleground.

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Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election Tuesday, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden鈥檚 current term and capping an underwhelming midterm cycle for the GOP in the last major vote of the year.

With Mr. Warnock鈥檚 second runoff victory in as many years, Democrats will have a 51-49 Senate majority, gaining a seat from the current 50-50 split with John Fetterman鈥檚 victory in Pennsylvania. There will be divided government, however, with Republicans having narrowly flipped House control.

鈥淎fter a hard-fought campaign 鈥� or, should I say, campaigns 鈥� it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken,鈥� Mr. Warnock told jubilant supporters who packed a downtown Atlanta hotel ballroom.

鈥淚 often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children,鈥� declared Mr. Warnock, a Baptist pastor and his state鈥檚 first Black senator. 鈥淕eorgia, you have been praying with your lips and your legs, your hands and your feet, your heads and your hearts. You have put in the hard work, and here we are standing together.鈥�

In last month鈥檚 election, Mr. Warnock led Mr. Walker by 37,000 votes out of almost 4 million cast, but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. The senator appeared to be headed for a wider final margin in Tuesday鈥檚 runoff, with Mr. Walker, a football legend at the University of Georgia and in the NFL, unable to overcome a bevy of damaging allegations, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends鈥� abortions despite supporting a national ban on the procedure.

鈥淭he numbers look like they鈥檙e not going to add up,鈥� Mr. Walker, an ally and friend of former President Donald Trump, told supporters late Tuesday at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no excuses in life, and I鈥檓 not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight.鈥�

Democrats鈥� Georgia victory solidifies the state鈥檚 place as a Deep South battleground two years after Mr. Warnock and fellow Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff won 2021 runoffs that gave the party Senate control just months after Mr. Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate in 30 years to win Georgia. Voters returned Mr. Warnock to the Senate in the same cycle they reelected Republican Gov. Brian Kemp by a comfortable margin and chose an all-GOP slate of statewide constitutional officers.

Mr. Walker鈥檚 defeat bookends the GOP鈥檚 struggles this year to win with flawed candidates cast from Mr. Trump鈥檚 mold, a blow to the former president as he builds his third White House bid ahead of 2024.

Democrats鈥� new outright majority in the Senate means the party will no longer have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans and won鈥檛 have to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to break as many tie votes.

National Democrats celebrated Tuesday, with Mr. Biden tweeting a photo of his congratulatory phone call to the senator. 鈥淕eorgia voters stood up for our democracy, rejected Ultra MAGAism, and ... sent a good man back to the Senate,鈥� Mr. Biden tweeted, referencing Mr. Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� slogan.

About 1.9 million runoff votes were cast in Georgia by mail and during early voting. A robust Election Day turnout added about 1.4 million more, slightly more than the Election Day totals in November and in 2020.

Total turnout still trailed the 2021 runoff turnout of about 4.5 million. Voting rights groups pointed to changes made by state lawmakers after the 2020 election that shortened the period for runoffs, from nine weeks to four, as a reason for the decline in early and mail voting.

Mr. Warnock emphasized his willingness to work across the aisle and his personal values, buoyed by his status as senior pastor of Atlanta鈥檚 Ebenezer Baptist Church, where civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

Mr. Walker benefited during the campaign from nearly unmatched name recognition from his football career, yet was dogged by questions about his fitness for office.

A multimillionaire businessman, Mr. Walker faced questions about his past, including his exaggerations of his business achievements, academic credentials, and philanthropic activities.

In his personal life, Mr. Walker faced new attention on his ex-wife鈥檚 previous accounts of domestic violence, including details that he once held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her. He has never denied those specifics and wrote of his violent tendencies in a 2008 memoir that attributed the behavior to mental illness.

As a candidate, he sometimes mangled policy discussions, such as attributing the climate crisis to China鈥檚 鈥渂ad air鈥� overtaking 鈥済ood air鈥� from the United States.

On Tuesday, Atlanta voter Tom Callaway praised the Republican Party鈥檚 strength in Georgia and said he鈥檇 supported Mr. Kemp in the opening round of voting. But he said he cast his ballot for Mr. Warnock because he didn鈥檛 think 鈥淗erschel Walker has the credentials to be a senator.鈥�

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 believe he had a statement of what he really believed in or had a campaign that made sense,鈥� Mr. Callaway said.

Mr. Walker, meanwhile, sought to portray Mr. Warnock as a yes-man for Mr. Biden. He sometimes made the attack in especially personal terms, accusing Mr. Warnock of 鈥渂eing on his knees, begging鈥� at the White House 鈥� a searing charge for a Black challenger to level against a Black senator about his relationship with a white president.

Mr. Warnock promoted his Senate accomplishments, touting a provision he sponsored to cap insulin costs for Medicare patients. He hailed deals on infrastructure and maternal health care forged with Republican senators, mentioning those GOP colleagues more than he did Mr. Biden or other Washington Democrats.

Mr. Warnock distanced himself from Mr. Biden, whose approval ratings have lagged as inflation remains high. After the general election, Mr. Biden promised to help Mr. Warnock in any way he could, even if it meant staying away from Georgia. Bypassing the president, Mr. Warnock decided instead to campaign with former President Barack Obama in the days before the runoff election.

Mr. Walker, meanwhile, avoided campaigning with Mr. Trump until the campaign鈥檚 final day, when the pair conducted a conference call Monday with supporters.

Mr. Walker joins failed Senate nominees Dr. Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania, Blake Masters of Arizona, Adam Laxalt of Nevada, and Don Bolduc of New Hampshire as Trump loyalists who ultimately lost races that Republicans once thought they would 鈥� or at least could 鈥� win.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP聽writers Christina A. Cassidy and Ron Harris contributed to this report.