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Georgia runoff results – live: Herschel Walker’s son blames Trump for ‘demanding’ father run as Warnock wins

After Herschel Walker was defeated by Democrat Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s crucial Senate race, the Republican’s son blamed Donald Trump for “demanding that he run”.

Christian Walker made a series of posts to Twitter soon after the results were projected in Warnock’s favour on Tuesday night, and lashed out at Republicans for choosing his former football star father because he has the “same skin color as his opponent”.

The Associated Press and other US outlets projected the result of the race in the Democrat’s favour, some three-and-a-half hours after polls officially closed at 7pm in Georgia.

While votes are still being counted, it means Mr Warnock – the first Black US senator from Georgia– has an unassailable lead against his Republican rival in the race to win a full six-year term.

Mr Warnock’s victory gives Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate.

The two candidates offered a stark choice to the Black voters in the state. Mr Warnock, a senior minister of Martin Luther King’s Atlanta church, echoes traditional liberal notions of the Black experience, while Mr Walker advocates the language of white cultural conservatism.

Key points

  • Walker’s son blames Trump for ‘demanding’ father run

  • Democratic senator Warnock defeats Walker to win Georgia runoff

  • When will we know the Georgia Senate runoff results

  • Warnock, Walker offer starkly different choices for Black voters as the incumbent races ahead in midterm

  • Herschel Walker upset by Obama mocking his vampire vs werewolf debate

  • Record daily early voter turnout across state

  • Warnock holds slight lead in polling average

Georgia Republican slams Herschel Walker as ‘one of the worst candidates in our party’s history’

10:20 , Rachel Sharp

Georgia Republican slams Herschel Walker as ‘one of the worst candidates in our party’s history’Georgia’s outgoing lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan has lashed out at Herschel Walker, calling the scandal-plagued Republican candidate backed by former president Donald Trump as one of the worst contenders in the party’s history.

“I’m a conservative. I’m a conservative because I feel like it’s the best way to govern. I’ve been a Republican a lot longer than a lot of folks,” Mr Duncan said to CBS News.

“I think I’ve got kids probably that could articulate the conservative platform better than some of the candidates that Donald Trump and his group supported all across the country.

Read more here:

Georgia Republican calls Herschel Walker ‘one of the worst candidates’ in GOP history

‘You still much rather be Warnock than Walker right now'

10:00 , Josh Marcus

Late-stage polls suggested incumbent Raphael Warnock would repeat his general election victory in his runoff against Herschel Walker.

As vote totals roll in from Georgia, political forecaster Dave Wasserman says that the Republican Walker is doing shockingly well, but Warnock seems likely to emerge on top.

“This is going to be a close runoff result, perhaps closer than the Warnock +3 rough polling consensus,” Mr Wasserman, of the Cook Political Report, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “But you’d still much rather be Warnock (D) than Walker (R) right now.”

ICYMI: What did Herschel Walker say in his concession speech?

09:30 , Shweta Sharma

Former football star Herschel Walker conceded defeat and delivered a speech to his supporters, saying running for the Senate was “the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life”.

“So I want to thank all of you as well, because there’s no excuses in life and I’m not going to making excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. And I think that’s what, that’s what we got to do, because this is much bigger than Herschel Walker,” he said.

“I want you to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials and most of all, stay together,” he said.

“Don’t let anyone separate you. Don’t let anyone tell you that we can’t, because I’m here to tell you we can.”

He concluded his speech by urging his supporters to “always cast your vote no matter whatever’s happening” and to “never, never, never give up.”

How The Independent covered Herschel Walker’s many scandals

09:00 , Josh Marcus

Herschel Walker closely competed with Raphael Warnock through the original Senate rate between the two, then the runoff election, despite a string of shocking scandals.

The former NFL player was accused of funding secret abortions and refusing to claim children from outside his marriage.

All the while, just like Donald Trump, the man who endorsed him, Walker managed to win over large numbers of voters and keep the Republican establishment on his side, despite the littany of troubling allegations against him.

Here’s how The Independent covered Mr Walker’s many scandals.

Secret tapes shared by woman who claims Herschel Walker paid for her abortion

Woman who says Herschel Walker paid for abortion says he said she wouldn’t be ‘safe’

Anti-abortion Herschel Walker using ‘Jedi mind trick’ abortion defence

Second woman emotionally describes how Herschel Walker made her have an abortion

Herschel Walker doubles down on ‘lying’ woman claiming he paid for her abortions

Herschel Walker says he wrote check to ex but doesn’t know if it was for abortion

Who are Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock — the two men who ran for Georgia’s Senate seat?

08:30 , Shweta Sharma

On Tuesday, Georgia held the final Senate contest of the 2022 midterm election when Senator Raphael Warnock and hopeful Herschel Walker faced off each other in a runoff election.

Neither candidate received a majority of the vote in November and Georgia law stipulates that as a result, the two would face each other in a runoff a month later.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes their profile.

Who are Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock — the two Georgia’s Senate candidates?

Walker struggled to explain why Trump didn’t campaign for him

07:59 , Josh Marcus

Herschel Walker struggled to explain to why former president Donald Trump did not campaign for him in the final week of Georgia’s Senate runoff race.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked why the former president did not rally with Mr Walker, when former president Barack Obama campaigned with Mr Walker’s Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock.

Eric Garcia reports.

Herschel Walker struggles to explain why Trump is not campaigning in Georgia runoff

Herschel Walker’s confounding campaign hits a dead end. What’s next for the GOP football star?

07:30 , Shweta Sharma

Herschel Walker entered the Georgia Senate race against Senator Raphael Warnock with a stature that few college athletes enjoyed, especially in the Peach State. In 1980, he led the University of Georgia to a national championship, running 1,616 yards, a record for a freshman.

In 1982, he won the Heisman Trophy before he went on to play for the New Jersey Generals, a team in the short-lived United States Football League owned by New York City real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Following the defeat in the state, Mr Walker leaves the Senate race a laughingstock in Republican politics, write Eric Garcia and Andrew Feinberg.

Herschel Walker’s campaign hits a dead end. What’s next for the GOP football star?

Walker went nearly two months without answering reporters’ questions

07:00 , Josh Marcus

Republican candidate Herschel Walker did not take questions from reporters on the trail for nearly two months as the Georgia Senate race moved toward its conclusion.

John Bowden reports.

Herschel Walker hasn’t answered reporters’ questions in nearly two months

Walker’s ex-partners celebrate his defeat

06:51 , Shweta Sharma

Herschel Walker, whose election campaign was marred by scandals and allegations, suffered defeat at the hands of pastor-turned-Democratic senator Raphael Warnock.

Mr Walker’s former partner has used the opportunity to deride him and celebrate his defeat.

“I am extremely proud of the outcome of this runoff,” said Cheryl Parsa, who claimed to be in a five-year-long relationship with the former football star.

She has alleged he habitually lied, cheated on her, and violently attacked her on one occasion.

“The great people of Georgia deserve better representation in the senate than Herschel Walker, and today they have chosen better”.

Another woman, who was not named, told Daily Beast: “Finally, this violent liar, cheater, adulterer, abuser and deranged, manipulative idiot has been defeated.”

“As a victim of this disgusting liar, I finally feel relieved, vindicated, and not alone.”

She claimed to be in a relationship with him for two years in 1996.

‘What a mess,' Donald Trump reacts to Warnock’s victory

06:29 , Shweta Sharma

Donald Trump said America is in big trouble as he responded to Democratic senator Raphael Warnock’s victory in the Georgia runoff election.

Herschel Walker, who was one of Mr Trump’s earliest endorsements, conceded defeat tonight.

Posting on his Truth Social website in all caps, Mr Trump said: “OUR COUNTRY IS IN BIG TROUBLE. WHAT A MESS!”

Biden called Warnock to congratulate him

06:17 , Shweta Sharma

Joe Biden said on Tuesday night that he called to congratulate Raphael Warnock on his victory.

“Just called @SenatorWarnock to congratulate him on his win,” according to a tweet from the official @POTUS account. “Tonight Georgia voters stood up for our democracy, rejected Ultra MAGAism, and most importantly: sent a good man back to the Senate. Here’s to six more years.”

How Donald Trump impacted the Herschel Walker campaign

06:00 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump has played a massive part in Herschel Walker’s campaign, from encouraging the former football star to run, to defending him during an ever-growing list of scandals.

Here’s how The Independent has reported on the relationship between the two men, with all the ups and downs along the way.

Trump calls on former football star Herschel Walker to run for senator in Georgia

Trump accused of ‘stealing’ from Herschel Walker campaign with fundraising emails

Herschel Walker struggles to explain why Trump is not campaigning in Georgia runoff

Trump backs Herschel Walker in abortion scandal: ‘True greatness in his future’

Trump saddles GOP with all of his baggage and none of his benefits

Raphael Warnock beats Herschel Walker in Georgia to give Democrats 51-49 Senate advantage

05:46 , Shweta Sharma

Senator Raphael Warnock triumphed in his second straight runoff in as many years when the Democratic incumbent fended off Republican nominee and college football legend Herschel Walker to give Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate.

The candidates faced each other in a runoff election after neither candidate received a majority of the vote in the general election in November. Mr Warnock had previously won a special election to finish the term of retiring Senator Johnny Isakson. He will now serve a full six-year term in the Senate.

Read The Independent’s full report.

Raphael Warnock beats Herschel Walker in Georgia to give Democrats a 51-49 advantage

Herschel Walker delivers concession speech, says ‘do not sop believing in America'

05:44 , Shweta Sharma

Former football star Herschel Walker conceded his defeat and delivered a speech to his supporters, saying running for the Senate was “the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life”.

“So I want to thank all of you as well, because there’s no excuses in life and I’m not going to making excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. And I think that’s what, that’s what we got to do, because this is much bigger this is much bigger than Herschel Walker,” he said.

“I want you to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials and most of all, stay together,” he said.

“Don’t let anyone separate you. Don’t let anyone tell you that we can’t, because I’m here to tell you we can.”

He concluded his speech by urging his supporters to “always cast your vote no matter whatever’s happening” and to “never, never, never give up.”

Watch Warnock bringing his mother on stage after victory speech

05:18 , Shweta Sharma

Raphael Warnock brought his family, including his 85-year-old mother on stage, after he paid a touching tribute to her.

Warnock claims victory in Georgia Senate runoff

05:14 , Shweta Sharma

Raphael Warnock claimed victory in Georgia’s Senate runoff election to a cheering crowd at the Democrat’s election night party.

“Thank you Georgia!” Mr Warnock, a Baptist preacher, said. “I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and to God be the glory.

“And 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.

“Let’s celebrate for a little while on this mountain. Let’s dance because we deserve it. But tomorrow we go back down into the valley to do the work,” he told a cheering crowd of supporters.

Paying tribute to his mother Verlene Warnock, he said: “She grew up in the 1950s in Waycross, Georgia, picking somebody else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco,” he said.

“But tonight she helped pick her youngest son to be a United States senator.”

Herschel Walker’s son lashes out at Trump and Republicans for ‘demanding’ father run

05:02 , Shweta Sharma

Christian Walker, the son of former football star Herschel Walker, lashed out at Donald Trump and Republicans in a long and angry rant following his father’s defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff election.

Calling it “the truth”, Mr Walker said the former president contacted his father for months demanding that he run for elections.

“Everyone with a brain begged him: ‘PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS’”.

He said he was chosen by Republicans for “identity politics” even though he did not have a political background.

“Republicans, we say we don’t play ‘identity politics’ and then you ran this man mainly because he was the same skin color as his opponent with no background other than football. A boring old Republican could have won,” he said.

Watch Obama’s epic takedown of Walker

05:00 , Josh Marcus

On Thursday, former president Barack Obama made one final visit to Atlanta to campaign for Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election.

The two-term president returned to Georgia and brutally mocked Republican Senate nominee and former University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Specifically, he made fun of Mr Walker’s speech a few weeks ago where he said he would rather be a werewolf than a vampire.

“This is a debate that I must confess I once had myself - when I was seven. Then I grew up,” Mr Obama said to uproarious laughter.

Eric Garcia reports.

Did Obama just finish off Herschel Walker’s campaign for good?

Kamala Harris says Georgia has got a senator who ‘would fight for them'

04:31 , Shweta Sharma

Reacting to Raphael Warnock’s victory, vice president Kamala Harris said Georgia voters wanted a Senator who would fight for them and they made it a reality.

Democrats react to Warnock’s ‘well-earned victory’

04:30 , Shweta Sharma

Reactions have started pouring in to Raphael Warnock’s victory, with Democrats praising him for giving the party an outright majority – 51 seats to 49 – in the Senate.

Chuck Schumer reacted with just “51!” in a tweet, before saying that it is the victory of democracy.

Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, congratulated Warnock, praising him for the work he has done for the state.

Watch as Warnock supporters break into celebration

04:07 , Shweta Sharma

The crowd at Warnock’s election night party began celebrating soon after elections were called in by outlets.

The supporters and campaign workers danced and cheer as DJ Khaled’s 2010 hit “All I Do Is Win” played in the background.

Warnock says ‘we did it again’ in his first tweet after victory

04:02 , Shweta Sharma

Raphael Warnock reacted with gratitude as his supporters at an election night party broke into celebration soon after the announcement.

The Democratic senator has now been on the ballot in Georgia five times in two years following two general elections and two runoffs.

Did Trump tank the GOP’s chances in Georgia?

04:00 , Josh Marcus

If Herschel Walker loses the Georgia Senate runoff, many will be quick to blame Donald Trump for endorsing him — and for opening up a lane of outrageous, celebrity-first politics Walker is clearly drawing from.

However, as Independent DC bureau chief Eric Garcia argues, the rest of the party enabled Walker too.

“It’d be easy for Republicans to blame Trump for backing Herschel Walker, but it wasn’t just Trump,” Eric wrote on Twitter. “Mitch McConnell backed him, John Thune backed him. Rick Scott campaigned for him. Nearly every GOP elite got behind him.”

Here’s an in-depth look at the question, from the Independent Voices section.

Trump saddles GOP with all of his baggage and none of his benefits

Herschel Walker’s son reacts to former footballer’s defeat

03:53 , Shweta Sharma

Christian Walker, the son of Republican former football star Herschel Walker, reacted with a long and angry rant following his father’s defeat in the Georgia Senate runoff election.

His reaction came soon after results were called in by several media outlets.

“Don’t beat women, hold guns to peoples heads, fund abortions then pretend your pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family.. And then maybe you can win a senate seat,” he tweeted.

Biden says ‘we’re going to win’ moments before projection

03:47 , Shweta Sharma

Exiting Air Force One on Tuesday night, Joe Biden said that Democrats are going to win the Georgia Senate runoff elections just moments before projections confirmed Raphael Warnock’s victory.

“We’re going to win. We’re going to win Georgia,” Mr Biden told reporters.

Mr Warnock has defeated Republican former football star Herschel Walker, news outlets and projections have declared as final votes are still being counted.

Democratic senator Warnock defeats Walker to win Georgia runoff

03:40 , Shweta Sharma

Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock won re-election in a hard-fought Georgia runoff on Tuesday, expanding his party’s razor-thin majority as he turned back a challenge by Republican former football star Herschel Walker.

The Associated Press and other US outlets have now projected the result of the race in the Democrat’s favour, some three-and-a-half hours after polls officially closed at 7pm in Georgia.

With 94 per cent of the expected vote counted, Edison also projected that Warnock had won reelection.

Wasserman makes the call for Warnock

03:00 , Eric Garcia

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

The Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman has announced that he believes Raphael Warnock will likely win the Georgia Senate runoff race.

Mr Wasserman, the editor for House races, is not an official network and does not make calls for the nonpartial election analysis report. But Mr Wasserman’s “I’ve seen enough” often preclude official calls from major news outlets.

Around 9:34 pm, Mr Wasserman said Mr Warnock had won the Georgia Senate runoff.

“I've seen enough: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) defeats Herschel Walker (R) in the #GASEN runoff, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate,” he tweeted.

Walker called ‘one of worst candidates’ in history of GOP by fellow Republican

03:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Georgia’s outgoing lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan has lashed out at Herschel Walker, calling the scandal-plagued Republican candidate backed by former president Donald Trump as one of the worst contenders in the party’s history.

Sravasti Dasgupta reports.

Georgia Republican calls Herschel Walker ‘one of the worst candidates’ in GOP history

Warnock flips two counties he lost in November

02:23 , Eric Garcia

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock greets members of the Teamsters after speaking at a Get Out the Vote event at a UPS worksite 5 December 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia (Getty Images)
Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock greets members of the Teamsters after speaking at a Get Out the Vote event at a UPS worksite 5 December 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia (Getty Images)

Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia flipped two counties on Tuesday evening that he lost in November as more votes pour in from the state’s runoff election.

In November, Republican nominee Herschel Walker narrowly won Baldwin County by 0.6 of the vote. But as on Tuesday evening, with 95 per cent of all counties reporting, Mr Warnock won it with 1.1 per cent of the vote.

Mr Warnock won Baldwin in his runoff election against Senator Kelly Loeffler on 5 January 2021, but by 4 per cent of the vote.

In addition, in 2021, Mr Warnock won Washington County by three per cent, but lost it in November by 1.4 per cent. But on Tuesday evening, with 95 per cent of the vote reporting, Mr Warnock put it back in his column.

Raphael Warnock’s campaign secret weapon: Obama

02:10 , Josh Marcus

Former president Barack Obama tends to take a much more lowkey role in congressional races than people like Donald Trump, who regularly opines on the latest news and annoints his chosen candidates.

Still, Mr Obama headed to Georgia in the final moments of the Senate runoff race to support Raphael Warnock.

In a stirring speech, the former president cast Mr Warnock’s pursuit of the Senate as part of a larger history of fighting for civil rights and Black advancement in America.

“If the men and women who had to endure the sting of discrimination, the smack of billy clubs, weren’t tired, if the folks who had to fight those early fights – those were the tough fights – for union rights and voting rights and gay rights and women’s rights, if they didn’t get tired, you can’t be tired,” he recently told a crowd. “So you gotta go out there and keep working.” “Not only will we reelect Raphael Warnock, not only will we keep Georgia and America on path to better future, but we will be setting an example for a four-year-old right there,” Mr Obama continued.

Obama pauses speech to let a four-year-old boy speak at rally for Georgia runoff race

Here’s a video of Mr Obama’s remarks.

The scandal that rocked the Walker-Warnock Senate race

01:50 , Josh Marcus

The Senate runoff race between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock was about more than just politics and policy.

The contest hinged in part on what voters thought personally about the two men, and whether they would factor a non-stop train of scandals relating to Mr Walker into their vote.

Two past partners accused Mr Walker, a staunch anti-abortion Republican, of urging them to get the procedure and even paying for it.

Here’s our reporting on what happened, courtesy of Eric Garcia.

Woman who says Herschel Walker paid for abortion says he said she wouldn’t be ‘safe’

Early voting in Georgia runoff blows past state turnout records

01:30 , Josh Marcus

The Georgia runoff will be remebered for a lot of things – the way it tested Donald Trump’s lasting influence of the GOP, the parade of Herschel Walker scandals – and that should include high turnout.

According to Georgia data, on Friday, the day of early voting, 352,953 people cast their choice, beating the past one-day record by nearly 50,000.

“Georgia is a national leader in voter access and security,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. “We are having historic levels of turnout and those who want to vote are voting- we believe this level of voter participation is excellent, and we’ll keep working with counties to encourage them to open more Early Voting locations in the future.”

What the Georgia runoff says about race in the US

01:10 , Josh Marcus

The runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker may involve a contest between two Black men, but some commentators argue the election is deeply symbolic about where the Democratic and Republican parties stand on race.

In 2020, Georgia went for Joe Biden, the first time the state sent a Democrat to the White House in three decades.

Due to local dynamics and pervasive voter disenfranchisement, until recently, the state’s majority Black population wasn’t able to elect a Democrat, even though African-Americans are the base of the party.

Perhaps sensing a red state slipping into the purple category, the GOP found a Black candidate in Walker who was both extremely popular in Georgia due to his college and pro football career, and deeply conservative.

It didn’t matter that he often struggled with basic policy questions or was dogged with continous scandals from his personal life.

To commentators like Caroline Randall Williams, the Republican party is knowingly using Walker to reach Black voters, even though the GOP in her view has abandoned the policy choices that would make America more equitable and less unjust on racial lines.

“Walker’s candidacy is a fundamental assault by the Republican Party on the dignity of Black Americans,” she wrote in The Atlantic today. “How dare they so cynically use this buffoon as a shield for their obvious failings to meet the needs and expectations of Black voters? They hold him up and say, ‘See, our voters don’t mind his race. We’re not a racist party. We have Black people on our side too.’”

Here’s more from The Independent about how identity factored into this election.

Warnock, Walker: Starkly different choices for Black voters

Follow our Independent reporters for the latest on the Georgia Senate race

00:46 , Josh Marcus

Washington bureau chief Eric Garcia has the latest analysis of the Georgia Senate rate, how the election is delivering high turnout levels.

Follow him at @EricMGarcia on Twitter for more.

Did Herschel Walker ever really live in Georgia?

00:30 , Josh Marcus

Herschel Walker, the scandal-plagued Republican candidate in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, said he lives in Texas in a newly unearthed recording.

In a January speech to the University of Georgia’s College Republicans, the former football star stated plainly, “I live in Texas,” despite competing against Democrat Raphael Warnock for Georgia’s US Senate seat.

“Everyone asks me, why did I decide to run for a Senate seat? Because to be honest with you, this is never something I ever, ever, ever thought in my life I’d ever do,” Mr Walker told the club, according to a report from CNN’s KFILE.

The revelation follows a previous CNN report that Mr Walker claimed a tax break on his multi-million dollar Texas home in 2021 and 2022 intended for primary residents, saving himself an estimated $1,500 and potentially running afoul of both Texas tax law and Georgia election procedures.

Here’s the full story.

Herschel Walker says ‘I live in Texas’ in unearthed 2022 recording

Results start rolling in for Georgia Senate runoff

00:15 , Josh Marcus

It’s official, moments after polls closed in Georgia, we have our first counties sharing voter totals, though it’s still only a few hundred thousand votes, with just 10 per cent of counties reporting.

As expected, incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock, who currently holds the lead in this provisional total, is carrying urban counties near the cities of Atlanta, Augusta, and Macon, while Herschel Walker is winning in redder, more rural counties.

Follow the latest prelimary tallies here, based on Associated Press data.

And here is the state of Georgia’s official elections counter.

Polls close in Georgia in runoff to decide control of Senate

00:04 , Josh Marcus

Polls are officially closed in Georgia for the runoff race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, though those in line now will still be able to cast their choice in the Senate race.

It’s unclear when we’ll know who won.

Unofficial results will be posted online shortly, but official tallies depend on turnout and how quickly individual counties share their voter data with state authorities.

We’ll be monitoring all the latest developments.

Eric Garcia has more information.

When will we know the Georgia Senate runoff results?

What time will we know the results?

Tuesday 6 December 2022 23:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Polls in Georgia open at 7:00 am and close at 7:00 pm on Tuesday. Voters who are still in line by 7:00 pm will still be allowed to vote.

Results of the race will likely be known earlier than in the 2021 runoff, due largely to the fact that many voters have already cast their ballot.

When will we know the Georgia Senate runoff results?

DoJ to monitor polls in Georgia for compliance with federal voting rights laws

Tuesday 6 December 2022 23:20 , Oliver O'Connell

The Justice Department plans to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in four counties in Georgia today, the department said in a statement.

Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the Civil Rights Division has regularly monitored elections in the field in jurisdictions around the country to protect the rights of voters. The Civil Rights Division enforces the federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all citizens to access the ballot.

For this election, the Civil Rights Division will monitor for compliance with the federal voting rights laws on Election Day in four jurisdictions: Cobb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, and Macon-Bibb County. Monitors will include personnel from the Civil Rights Division and from the US Attorneys’ Offices.

The Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section enforces the civil provisions of federal statutes that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Acts.

What influence does Trump have on today’s race?

Tuesday 6 December 2022 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump remains the de facto leader of the Republican Party, meaning its elected officials must answer for every egregious statement or call to subvert the law he makes. The difference is that now, after two impeachments and suffering a crushing loss in 2020, he no longer offers them many benefits. Rather, every utterance he makes reminds voters why they don’t vote for Republicans.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Georgia’s Senate runoff, writes Eric Garcia.

Trump saddles GOP with all of his baggage and none of his benefits

Watch: Today is a ‘mini-referendum’ on Trump

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:40 , Oliver O'Connell

“This is a mini referendum on the value, or lack thereof, of a Trump endorsement,” says CBS News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett

A stark choice for Black voters

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Black voters say the choice is stark: Warnock, the senior minister of Martin Luther King’s Atlanta church, echoes traditional liberal notions of the Black experience; and Walker, a University of Georgia football icon, speaks the language of white cultural conservatism and mocks Warnock’s interpretations of King, among other matters.

Read on:

Warnock, Walker: Starkly different choices for Black voters

What to watch for in today’s election

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The results of the AP VoteCast survey illustrate some of the challenges each candidate faces on Tuesday.

Herschel Walker will need to turn out a GOP base that wasn’t enamored with him to start with, and do it without the more popular Governor Brian Kemp on the ballot.

Raphael Warnock must get his coalition of some lower-propensity voting groups to turn out.

And both candidates have to motivate voters despite a predetermined balance of power in Washington.

What to watch in Tuesday's Georgia Senate runoff election

An increasingly personal fight and a flood of outside spending all comes to a head today

Tuesday 6 December 2022 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Georgia voters on Tuesday are set to decide the final Senate contest in the country, choosing between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican football legend Herschel Walker after a four-week runoff blitz that has drawn a flood of outside spending to an increasingly personal fight.

Read on:

Warnock or Walker? Georgia runoff to settle last Senate seat