US politics: Democrats seal absolute Senate majority with Georgia win
The Democrats have sealed an overall win in the Senate after a runoff vote in the state of Georgia saw their candidate secure a projected victory over the Republican challenger.
Incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock beat Herschel Walker -- a former professional American football player who was backed by Donald Trump -- in Tuesday's vote, with Walker conceding.
It means the Democrats have an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden’s current term and capping an underwhelming midterm cycle for the Republicans in the last major vote of the year.
With Warnock’s second runoff victory in as many years, Democrats will have a 51-49 Senate majority, gaining a seat from the current 50-50 split. The US will have divided government, however, with Republicans having narrowly flipped House control.
“After a hard-fought campaign -- or, should I say, campaigns -- it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken,” Warnock, 53, told jubilant supporters who packed a downtown Atlanta hotel ballroom.
“I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children,” declared Warnock, a Baptist pastor and his state's first Black senator. “Georgia, you have been praying with your lips and your legs, your hands and your feet, your heads and your hearts. You have put in the hard work, and here we are standing together.”
In last month’s election, Warnock led Walker by 37,000 votes out of almost 4 million cast, but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. The senator appeared to be headed for a wider final margin in Tuesday's runoff, with Walker, a football legend at the University of Georgia and in the NFL, unable to
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