Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock prevailed in Georgia’s runoff election Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Warnock, who became the first Black person from Georgia to be elected to the Senate when he won a 2021 runoff, is now set to serve a full six-year term, The New York Times reports. Warnock’s victory also secured a 51-seat Democratic majority.
Addressing his supporters after the victory on Tuesday, Warnock said, “The people have spoken.”
“I am Georgia,” the senator told the crowd. “I am an example and an iteration of its history, of its peril and promise, of the brutality and the possibilities. But because this is America, because we always have a path to make our country greater against unspeakable odds, here we stand together.”
According to the Times, more than 2,000 people have served in the United States Senate, but only 11 have been Black. The three current Senate members who are Black are Warnock, Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Warnock finished ahead of Walker by about 37,000 votes in the general election in November. However, the race had to be decided in a runoff because neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold needed to win.
According to Georgia’s new election law, the runoff period was shortened from nine weeks to four. As a result, both candidates were required to adjust their strategies quickly and mobilize voters to return to the polls.
Warnock earned overwhelming support from Black voters in Georgia. Many of Warnock’s supporters believed that Republicans selected Walker as their candidate because they wanted to lure Black voters.
“Herschel Walker is a product of Georgia politics,” voter Aisha Horan told the Times. “Someone looked around and said: ‘We need to counter Warnock, especially for those Black folks. Let’s just stack the deck against them a little bit more.'”
