Kemp holds on to Georgia governor’s seat; U.S. senate race up in the air
ATLANTA — In their second face-to-face match up for Georgia governor, Republican Brian Kemp again defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams— this time by a much larger margin.
And while voters showed up in numbers to support Kemp, Republican Herschel Walker did not receive the same support in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, and may be headed into a runoff with Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock.
In 2018 when Abrams and Kemp first squared off, Kemp defeated Abrams by just 55,000 votes. This go round, as 11:30 p.m. Nov. 8, Kemp held a nearly 9-point lead over Abrams by more than 300,000 votes (nearly 54%). Abrams, who had an estimated 1.6million, or 45.5% of votes, reportedly called Kemp to concede just after 11 p.m., with 87% percent of votes in.
In the U.S. Senate race, Georgia is one of 11 key battleground states that could determine which party will control the U.S. Senate.
Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver appeared to be pushing the two headline contenders, Walker and Warnock, to a runoff.
As of 11:30 p.m. Nov. 8, Walker secured 49.2% of votes, leading Warnock by just 15,000 votes. Warnock held 48.8 %, or 1.76 million votes, as of 11:10 p.m. More than 72,000 voters cast a ballot for Oliver, ballots which likely could have put either Walker or Warnock over the 50+1 threshold that is need to secure the U.S. Senate seat.
With an estimated 3.6 million votes counted in both the governor and U.S. Senate race as of 11:30 p.m., it appears that Walker received significantly less Republican support than Kemp.
Despite being vocal about his support of a total abortion ban in the U.S., recent allegations that Walker paid for two women to have abortions do not appear to have had a major impact on his overall support in the election. During the campaign trail Walker frequently linked Warnock to his support of the Biden agenda and blamed Warnock for inflation and high gas prices.
Warnock won the U.S. senate seat, traditionally held by Republicans, in a Jan. 2021 runoff to fill the unexpired term of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired in 2019 due to health challenges. Warnock has said Walker is unfit for the position, referencing false claims made by Walker including claims he’s worked in law enforcement and his history of domestic violence.
In North Georgia, Controversial Republican firebrand U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defeated Democrat Marcus Flowers to win re-election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
Georgia’s midterm election saw record turnout among its more than 6.9 million registered voters.
Nearly 2.29 million cast a ballot during the three weeks of early voting. Early in-person voting during the 2018 midterm saw 1.89 ballots cast. Prior to the passage of Georgia’s new voting laws in 2021, 2.6 million voters cast a ballot early in person during the general election/presidential election, which typical draws larger turnout.