Report: Georgia runoff could decide control of the Senate for the 2nd consecutive time

Herschel Walker
(Image credit: Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

The close race between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker could lead to a situation in which a January runoff in Georgia decides control of the Senate for the second consecutive time, Politico reports.

Analysts from across the political spectrum expect the race to be close. Two polls from late July showed Warnock leading the former NFL star 48-45 and 46-42, respectively. In both cases, the pastor-turned-senator's edge was within the margin of error.

The problem is, thanks to the roughly 3 percent of voters who favor Libertarian Chase Oliver, neither major party candidate is on track to clear 50 percent. In that case, Warnock and Walker would face one another in a runoff in January.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

That's exactly what happened last election cycle, when Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) defeated then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Warnock beat out then-Sen. David Purdue (R) in a special election. These two narrow victories, coming on the heels of President Biden's win in November, handed Democrats their current trifecta.

Republicans are almost certain to take back the House in November but face a far narrower path to reclaiming the Senate. Depending on how races in states like Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania turn out, there's a strong possibility that, come January, we might all be obsessively hitting "refresh" on the Georgia election results page once again.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Grayson Quay

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteModern AgeThe American ConservativeThe Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.