Inside the Georgia Senate runoff


It's Dec. 6, and you know what that means — the Georgia Senate runoff has arrived. Will Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock come out on top of a tight race? Or will former professional football player and Republican Herschel Walker eke out the win?
Polls close at 7 p.m., meaning you can expect results shortly afterward. Georgia was notably one of the fastest states to report results in the November election, with nearly 80 percent reported by 10 p.m., per The Wall Street Journal. Warnock is thought to have an advantage among the ballots cast during early voting, suggesting Walker will have to win big with in-person votes on Tuesday to make up for the deficit. As a reminder, the pair's contest moved a runoff after both candidates failed to carry at least 50 percent of the vote in November.
As of Monday afternoon, support for Warnock was besting that for Walker by 1.9 percentage points — 50.2 percent to 48.2 — according a polling average from FiveThirtyEight. Still, the race could go either way. Not only are most of the runoff polls sampled by FiveThirtyEight within the margin of error, some are from "pollsters without established track records." Though that doesn't mean they'll be inaccurate, "it is a reason to take them with a grain of salt." (Five surveys from more well-regarded pollsters "all consistently put Warnock a few points ahead of Walker," for what it's worth.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
The New York Times' Blake Hounshell also made the analytical case for both Walker and Warnock in his newsletter, On Politics. On the one hand, Warnock has vastly outspent his opponent and is, at this point, a seasoned campaign veteran; but Walker, on the other, is a conservative candidate in a conservative place, and might ultimately win back some of the voters he lost in November.
Regarding consequences — Democrats will hold onto their Senate majority either way, but the party can do plenty more with 51 senators as opposed to 50 (likely to Republicans' chagrin). For one thing, a Warnock win means Democrats can "organize the Senate and have majorities on each committee," paving the way for easy and quick judge confirmations, writes Bloomberg's Jonathan Bernstein. A 51st member also affords Dems some breathing room should one lawmaker stray from the unified pack (*cough cough* Joe Manchin), and covers the majority if there's an absence, a resignation, or even a death, among other advantages.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
July 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include new TSA rules, FEMA cuts, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy complimenting Donald Trump's new wardrobe
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling