With just over a day before polls close in Georgia, incumbent Raphael Warnock is comfortably ahead of Herschel Walker in a race that was neck and neck only a few months prior. Walker, a former NFL star and brief Mixed Martial Arts fighter has shown resilience over the past few months in the face of mounting scandals as revelations from his past have mired his candidacy in controversy, though the nail in the coffin for his campaign likely came in November as voters surprised pollsters and politicians alike by giving Biden and the Democrats control of the Senate regardless of the outcome in Georgia on Tuesday.
There has been a surge in spending on TV ads for the upcoming Georgia U.S. Senate runoff. In the four-week campaign period, $79 million has been spent on airtime. AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, reports that spending by groups supporting the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, has more than doubled contributions from groups backing the Republican challenger, Herschel Walker. The runoff election will take place on Tuesday, as no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in last month’s general election. Warnock finished ahead of Walker by nearly one percentage point and missed winning outright by less than 22,000 votes. A Libertarian candidate received 2% of the vote, which will likely go to Walker in the runoff.
If Democrats retain the seat, their majority in the Senate will expand to 51-49. This would give them a bit of a cushion to pass legislation and confirm Biden administration and judicial nominees. Furthermore, the Senate landscape in 2024 looks unfavorable for Democrats. If they want to keep control of the Senate beyond the next two years, winning this seat is crucial to Biden’s chances of a functional government.
Even with a guaranteed majority for Democrats, the extra seat is pivotal to Biden
Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have been a thorn in the side of the Biden administration since he’s taken office. Warnock would likely be able to negate at least some of their effect and allow for judicial nominees to be seated. While they both bill themselves as “moderates”, progressives see them as anything but. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez even suggested she would support primarying Sinema earlier this year.
