Midterms 2022 results in Georgia: How might a possible runoff affect control of the Senate?
The key Senate battleground is once again Georgia while an election quirk means the result won’t be known until December, and not for the first time.
Georgia is a state of great importance on election night. It has flipped its support during presidential elections between Democrats and Republicans; Joe Biden managed to win the state to wrestle it away from the GOP after 28 years of control.
This makes the state a crucial battleground to follow during the 2022 midterms. Democrats being able to threaten the governorship as well as winning the Senate seat would be seen as a victory on a night the party thought they were to struggle.
The Democrats were easily overcome in the governor race but the Senate race is much closer. Between ex-footballer Herschel Walker and incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock, neither party has the necessary 50% of the vote needed to take the state. With 98% of the votes counted, Warnock has 49.4% of the vote while Walker has 48.5% while Libertarian candidate Chas Oliver has siphoned off the remainder.
It has now been confirmed that the two men will face off in a Senate runoff race on 6 December, just as Warnock did to win the seat in 2020.
“While county officials are still doing the detailed work on counting the votes, we feel it is safe to say there will be a runoff for the US Senate here in Georgia slated for December 6,” Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer for Georgia secretary of state, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
How will the Georgia Senate runoff work?
The runoff election is a single-issue ballot in which residents will be given two options for the next senator, with other candidates removing from the running. Obviously, the two candidates with the most votes are Warnock and Walker, meaning these two will be put forward for the runoff.
The next vote will be held in four weeks on 6 December.
Winning the seat will be crucial for both parties. It is looking likely that the Georgia race will decide control of the Senate; current projections indicate the Republicans will take at least 49 seats while Democrats will take at least 48.