The final Senate race of the 2022 midterm elections will come to a close in Georgia on Tuesday, as voters choose between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a high-stakes race that will determine whether Democrats can extend their lead. a slim majority in the House. .
The candidates were forced into a runoff after neither Warnock, 53, nor Walker, 60, received more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 8 by-election.
On the eve of Election Day on Tuesday, early voting in the Peach State set a number of single-day records, and nearly 2 million ballots had already been cast before Friday’s close.
Reflecting the importance of the race, spending by candidates and outside groups approached $400 million, making it the costliest contest of the 2022 election cycle. Compiled by OpenSecrets.org.
.According to RealClear Politics Warnock is 5 percentage points ahead of his political rival, Walker, a former star at the University of Georgia, the USFL and the NFL, according to the average poll.
Endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Walker has strong support from national Republicans and a number of high-profile lawmakers who traveled to Georgia to campaign with him, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida and Tom of Arkansas There is also cotton. .
Trump was expected to hold a teleconference for Walker on Monday evening.
Former President Barack Obama met with Warnock last week, but unlike Trump, the senator did not travel to Georgia to campaign.
Democrats say early voting is an advantage for Warnock, but Republicans hope Tuesday’s GOP turnout could turn things around for Walker.
Warnock’s victory could give Democrats a 51-49 advantage in the Senate, giving Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer room to maneuver around influential West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kirsten Sinema. A narrow majority would block Biden’s legislative agenda.
With 51 Democratic senators, Schumer could lose the support of one member of his caucus and still win votes.
If Walker wins, the 50-50 split in the upper chamber will remain the same as it has been for the past two years, with Democrats relying on Vice President Kamala Harris to cast a tie vote.
Republicans won a slim majority in the House of Representatives in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
Trump beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Georgia by about 5 points in the 2016 presidential election, but lost to President Biden by about one point in 2020.
But the 2020 election in Georgia proved crucial for Democrats, as both Warnock and Sen. John Ossoff won to give Democrats a 50-50 majority in the Senate.
Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, defeated incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler to become the first African-American elected to the US Senate from Georgia.
But he had to run for re-election again this year because his victory over Loeffler came in a special election to finish out the remainder of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s six-year term after he resigned in 2019 due to health issues. was
With post wires
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