Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, was elected on Tuesday to be the first Black senator from Georgia, CNN projected early Wednesday morning, a repudiation of Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her adherence to President Donald Trump. The projected win brings Democrats one step closer to flipping the upper chamber of Congress. The control of the US Senate now comes down to Republican David Perdue, who is running to keep his seat against Democrat Jon Ossoff. The contest in too close to call. Final tallies are expected by Wednesday evening but if the votes are within a 0.5% margin, a candidate could ask for a recount. President-elect Biden and the left-leaning Democratic Party have to win both runoff elections in order to flip the upper chamber of Congress, which is responsible for lawmaking and a host of other duties. Losing one of the two runoff elections would keep the chamber in the hands of the right-leaning Republicans who could block Biden's legislative priorities, as well as his nominees for his incoming Cabinet, who have to be confirmed by the Senate before taking office. Warnock is the first Georgia Democrat elected to the Senate in 20 years, and his election is the culmination of years of voter registration drives conducted by former state House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams and other activists. President-elect Joe Biden also won Georgia, the first time for a Democratic presidential candidate since the 1990s. After no Georgia Senate candidate received 50% of the vote in November, the races turned to two runoffs. While Ossoff and Warnock ran on a unity ticket, Trump refused to concede his own loss, sparking a fight within the Republican Party and disenchanting some of his supporters, who believed his false claims that the vote was rigged. Trump's ongoing onslaught against the Republican officials in charge of the elections pressured the two GOP senators to make a choice: Join the President in seeking to overturn the democratic outcome or risk losing Trump supporters, some of whom have become disenchanted with the electoral process. Trump recently appeared to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on a private call, urging him to "find" enough votes to reverse the results. Raffensperger refused. But despite three recounts and no evidence of widespread fraud, Loeffler and Perdue decided to join the president in objecting to Congress' certification of the Electoral College's results in a final, deluded display of devotion to Trump supporters. "The American people deserve a platform in Congress, permitted under the Constitution, to have election issues presented so that they can be addressed," said Loeffler in a statement on Monday. Many have said former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams contributed to the flipping the state in the Democrats' favor, registering new voters through her organization "Fair Fight". Since the 2018 election, in which Abrams lost to Governor Brian Kemp, more than 800,000 new voters have been added to Georgia's electorate, the organization says. At least 49% of those voters are people of color and 45% are under 30 years old. Republicans hoped their message that Georgia should be a check on Washington would prove successful, noting that if Warnock and Ossoff win, Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer will be in charge. "We're talking about the future of the country, and we can't just turn it all over to one party," said Eric Tanenblatt, who served as chief of staff to former Republican Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, before Election Day. "That could be wishful thinking on my part. But I do think that that's going to be a big motivator." But Republicans are worried that Trump's unwillingness to concede jeopardizes the party's hold on the Senate, even though the state has not elected a Democrat to the chamber since 2000. Heath Garrett, a campaign manager for former Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, told CNN that Trump's attacks on Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger were "counterproductive for trying to motivate grassroots, base Republicans to go vote," and said they've threw Perdue and Loeffler "off message" in the final days of the campaign. The Georgia US Senate races have attracted enormous attention due to the stakes for the first years of the Biden administration and the state's shift from red to purple. Dr. Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor, told CNN that the Senate elections could be the first in which urban Georgia casts more votes than rural Georgia. "We've seen tremendous enthusiasm in the early voting numbers, both in person and by mail, and we know that while Democrats will have a lead when polls open ... Republicans are expected to have a strong Election Day," said Seth Bringman, a spokesman for Fair Fight Action, a voting rights organization founded by Abrams. Political groups spent about $520 million to advertise in the two runoff races, according to Kantar Media/CMAG, averaging more than $8 million per day. Republicans outspent Democrats by tens of millions of dollars. With the Senate on the line, Trump rallied his supporters in northwest Georgia on Monday, while President-elect Joe Biden held an event in Atlanta. Biden said electing Ossoff and Warnock would end the gridlock in Washington and allow Congress to provide $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans. Trump urged the state to elect Perdue and Loeffler, and claimed that Biden would not take the White House. "We're going to fight like hell," said the president. — Agencies
