Democratic United States Senator Raphael Warnock has won re-election in a hard-fought Georgia runoff, expanding his party's razor-thin majority as he turned back a challenge by Republican former football star Herschel Walker, Edison Research projected.
With 97 per cent of the expected vote counted and Mr Warnock commanding a lead of 50.6 per cent to 49.4 per cent, Edison projected that Mr Warnock had won re-election on Tuesday (local time).
Mr Warnock's victory cements Georgia as a battleground state certain to play a prominent role in the 2024 presidential election. Democrats have now won three Senate races in the past two years in the former Republican stronghold and Democratic President Joe Biden carried the state in 2020.
Mr Walker's defeat is also a setback for as he . The former president endorsed Mr Walker and dozens of other high-profile Republicans in , but he ends with a mixed record in his most competitive contests.
Raphael Warnock's victory means Democrats now are on track for a 51-seat majority in the 100-seat Senate. Source: Getty / Win McNamee
Many began dancing, some held their drinks in the air, and others took selfies to memorialise the moment. The group, a mix of young people, political activists, and wealthy professionals and donors, reflected the coalition of voters that Mr Warnock drew on to win the contest.
Mr Walker's campaign was plagued by repeated gaffes and claims by former girlfriends that he paid for their abortions, even though he has campaigned for the procedure to be outlawed. He has denied the accusations.
Mr Warnock highlighted those concerns in campaign appearances and a barrage of television ads that made the race the most expensive of the 2022 midterm season, with more than US$400 million ($597 million) spent.
The contest went to a runoff after neither candidate secured 50 per cent of the vote on 8 November.
Herschel Walker's defeat is a setback for Donald Trump as he seeks the Republican nomination to run for the White House again in 2024. Source: Getty / Alex Wong
Democrats now are on track for a 51-seat majority in the 100-seat Senate, which will make it slightly easier to advance Mr Biden's nominees for judicial and administrative posts. Most legislation will still require Republican support.
Mr Warnock, who like Mr Walker is Black, is pastor of the historic Atlanta church where assassinated civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr preached. It is the second runoff victory in two years for Mr Warnock, who first won his seat in January 2021.
Republicans won a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 8 November election, but fell short of the "red wave" that some in the party had forecast.
