Democrat Raphael Warnock claims victory over Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia Senate runoff

Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) declared victory over Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) early Wednesday, when he led by 36,000 votes in Tuesday's runoff election. Loeffler has not conceded the race and The Associated Press had not projected a winner at the time, but the remaining uncounted ballots are expected to be heavily Democratic. Warnock, 51, is pastor at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. He would be Georgia's first Black senator and the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate from the South, NPR News reports.

"Tonight, we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock said in a virtual victory speech, mentioning his mother. "The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator."

The other runoff race in Georgia, between Democrat Jon Ossoff (D) and incumbent Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), is currently tied at 50 percent each.

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