You may have thought the US midterm elections were over, but the tail still needs to be addressed. Today voters in the state of Georgia are giving away a seat in the Senate. This will affect the balance of power in Congress and may even say something about the big race ahead: the 2024 presidential election.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is defending his seat against Republican challenger, Herschel Walker.
Georgia’s Senate elections are a little different than many other states. A candidate must receive at least 50% of the vote to win. If none succeeds, a second round follows, the outflow. Democrat Warnock received 49.4% of the vote on Nov. 8, Republican Walker 48.5%. The other 2.1% went to Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party. Do not participate in outflow.
Warnock, 53, is a pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He became Georgia’s first black senator in 2021 when he took the seat vacated following Republican Johnny Isakson’s resignation due to ill health.
To fill the remaining year and a half in Isakson’s term, Warnock defeated his temporary deputy, Republican Kelly Loeffler, in 2020. Warnock’s fellow Democrat, Jon Ossoff, escaped with Georgia’s second Senate seat. Their victories were astonishing in a state that had long been a conservative stronghold. He gave the Democrats a (slim) majority in the Senate.
Walker (60) had a successful career as a football player, in which he played for the Dallas Cowboys, among others. He is especially popular in Georgia for his achievements for the University of Georgia team.
He spoke for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, was given a seat on a presidential advisory committee, and was encouraged by Trump to run for Senate. Walker supports the former president’s now widely debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to large-scale vote-rigging by Democrats.
More space in the Senate
To this day, Georgia residents have been bombarded with political ads. Their state is increasingly seen as a swing state, where neither major party has a clear advantage. These are the states where national elections are held, because the political balance has room to change. This is one of the reasons why the outflow between Warnock and Walker he can count on national interest.
Another reason for attention is the stake. During the midterm elections, Democrats managed to maintain a majority in the Senate. That depends on Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote, serving as a tiebreaker in a 50-50 vote. If a senator veers from the party line, says Virginia’s much-discussed Joe Manchin, he could torpedo Democratic plans. A win in Georgia would give the parties room to get around just one sleeper.
Additionally, Senate rules state that seats on various parliamentary committees must be split equally between Democrats and Republicans if they each occupy 50 seats. If the Democrats roll 51, they will get a majority in all those committees. For example, without Republican opposition, the appointment of federal judges would be much smoother.
Republicans, of course, would rather see Democrats lose that much-coveted edge in the Senate. A Walker win could also buoy former President Trump. The other candidates who got his blessing in the midterm elections fared poorly. This leads to discussion within the party as to whether Trump himself is the right person to run against the Democrats again for president in 2024.
Walker did not do well during the campaign
There are signs that Warnock has a slight edge over Walker, but the first round (49.4% for the reverend vs. 48.5% for the ex-athlete) showed it was going to be a pretty close battle between the two. An important question is whether Republican voters can carry themselves to the polls now that it is already clear that the majority in the Senate is not with their party.
It is clear that Warnock has had a better campaign than his rival. Walker has been discredited, among other things, due to allegations that he paid for the abortions of two ex-girlfriends, presenting himself as a fierce anti-abortionist. He is unlikely to take care of his children and is accused of domestic violence by an ex-wife. Government documents also revealed that his primary residence is in Texas, and therefore not in the state for which he wants to become a senator.
Some Republican commentators acknowledge that Walker is not the ideal candidate, but that winnings are more important to the party than any particular politician’s idiosyncrasies. That consideration aroused The Washington Post a vitriolic analysis: “And that’s why it seems Walker still has a shot: He’s a hot body with an ‘R’ next to his name.”
