By Nathan Layne
ATLANTA, Dec. 7 (Portal) – Democrat Raphael Warnock won re-election to the US Senate in a close runoff in Georgia on Tuesday, strengthening his party’s razor-thin majority by running against former Republican soccer star Herschel Walker.
Warnock’s predicted victory was close. With 99% of the votes counted, he led Walker with 50.8% to 49.2%, according to Edison Research.
The result cements Georgia as a battleground state sure to feature prominently in the 2024 presidential election. Democrats have won three Senate elections in the past two years in the former Republican stronghold, and Democratic President Joe Biden won the state in 2020.
“Let’s celebrate a bit on this mountain. Let’s dance because we deserve it. But tomorrow we’ll be back in the valley to work,” Warnock, a Baptist minister, told a crowd of supporters.
Walker’s defeat is also a setback for Donald Trump in his quest for the Republican nomination to run for the White House again in 2024. The former president backed Walker and dozens of other high-profile Republicans in this year’s midterm elections, but had mixed results in the most competitive races.
Walker’s campaign was plagued by bitter allegations. A staunch pro-abortion advocate, he was also plagued by reports that he had paid for several ex-girlfriends to have abortions, allegations he denied.
Warnock highlighted these issues in campaign appearances and in a spate of television commercials that made the race the most expensive of the 2022 mid-term season at more than $400 million.