Georgia election results: Raphael Warnock wins Senate race

Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock won a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, defeating Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in one of the crucial January 5 elections.

The race was triggered by the Vox voting partner’s ruling office at 11:13 p.m. ET.

Warnock’s victory is historic; he is the first black senator to be elected from Georgia, who fought alongside the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Warnock is the 11th black candidate ever elected to the Senate, and he will be one of only three black senators in the current Congress, along with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC).

“Georgia is the home state of Martin Luther King Jr.,” Warnock told Vox in an interview this fall. “This has long been the spearhead of change in America. And I think that through this movement that we are building, it will again be a central axis of this change.

Warnock’s victory signifies a potential radical change in Georgian politics. It comes months after Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992. House Democrats also reversed their only 2020 GOP-held district into Georgia’s seventh congressional district, in the suburbs of Atlanta.

The other Senate run-off race between Republican Senator David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff has yet to be started.

This once staunchly conservative state has seen immense demographic change in recent years, but has also seen an increasingly organized Democratic Party. Democrats can thank voting rights groups aiming to train mass voters of color for the victory of Warnock, who was fueled by non-white voters.

“We knocked on our 2 millionth door yesterday, we made 5 million phone calls, 3 million text messages to Georgian voters,” Nsé Ufot, CEO of the voting rights group New Georgia Project, told Vox . “We were all surprised by the November election results, and I maintain Georgia is a battlefield state.”

What Warnock’s victory means for Senate control and Biden’s agenda

President-elect Joe Biden won the presidency on November 3, but he doesn’t have much of a chance to achieve the bold agenda he has proposed without congressional membership.

Biden takes office amid multiple crises: Covid-19 pandemic worsens in United States even as vaccines begin to ship across the country, and millions still out of work due to layoffs related to coronaviruses. After months of partisan stalemate, Congress managed to pass a $ 900 billion economic relief plan ahead of the New Year. Biden has said he wants more economic stimulus, but whether a future package can be passed will largely depend on which party controls the Senate.

Democrats will have to face Republicans in the Senate no matter what. Winning the two seats in Georgia would give Democrats 50 Senate seats, plus Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as a crucial tiebreaker for simple majority votes. (To be clear, Georgia’s other race has yet to be named, so we still don’t know which party will control the Senate).

The catch is that most bills must have a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. Therefore, even if the Democrats control the Senate, they still need around 10 Republican votes to get things done – unless they vote to remove filibuster and change Senate rules to one vote. by simple majority for legislation. A number of Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, strongly oppose it.

Warnock’s victory means Democrats will have to win fewer Republican senators to do grassroots work; they now have a more reliable vote on routine but important Senate functions, such as confirming Biden’s Cabinet or running for office.

Warnock’s victory in Georgia brings Democrats closer to governability.