With Warnock’s Win, Democrats Breathlessly Watch Ossoff Inch Closer To Victory

January 6, 2021
HEPHZIBAH, GEORGIA - JANUARY 04: Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff speak before an Augusta canvass launch block party at Robert Howard Community Center on January 04, 2021 in He... HEPHZIBAH, GEORGIA - JANUARY 04: Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff speak before an Augusta canvass launch block party at Robert Howard Community Center on January 04, 2021 in Hephzibah, Georgia. On the final day before the January 5th runoff election, Warnock and Ossoff, who are challenging Republican incumbent senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively, made their last pitches to voters at a block party and canvass launch. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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January 6, 2021

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Rev. Raphael Warnock toppled Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), clinching one of the two seats Democrats need to wrench back Senate control. He’ll soon become Georgia’s first ever Black senator.

All eyes then turned to the closer Jon Ossoff-Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) contest, where a Democratic victory seems within reach.

If Democrats pull off the sweep, the Senate will be evenly split, giving Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. It also means unified Democratic control of the White House and Congress for the first time in 11 years.

As Georgia election workers keep counting ballots, President Donald Trump is spewing conspiracy theories and the Republican senators are so far refusing to concede defeat. Perdue promised to “exhaust every legal resource” in his quest to make sure “legally cast” ballots were properly counted. However, if both races finish outside a half a percentage point difference — as Warnock’s did and Ossoff’s seems likely to — there will be no recount, leaving the Republicans to choose whether to mimic Trump’s flailing efforts in the courts.

More Less

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Rev. Raphael Warnock toppled Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), clinching one of the two seats Democrats need to wrench back Senate control. He’ll soon become Georgia’s first ever Black senator.

All eyes then turned to the closer Jon Ossoff-Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) contest, where a Democratic victory seems within reach.

If Democrats pull off the sweep, the Senate will be evenly split, giving Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. It also means unified Democratic control of the White House and Congress for the first time in 11 years.

As Georgia election workers keep counting ballots, President Donald Trump is spewing conspiracy theories and the Republican senators are so far refusing to concede defeat. Perdue promised to “exhaust every legal resource” in his quest to make sure “legally cast” ballots were properly counted. However, if both races finish outside a half a percentage point difference — as Warnock’s did and Ossoff’s seems likely to — there will be no recount, leaving the Republicans to choose whether to mimic Trump’s flailing efforts in the courts.

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