Senator Raphel Warnock won reelection to a full term as US Senator from Georgia, defeating his Republican opponent Herschel Walker in a runoff election. The election laws in Georgia require a runoff between the top two finishers from the general election if neither receives over 50% of the vote. Warnock had received 49.6% of the general election vote, just shy of meeting that standard.
The victory gives the Democratic Party a clear 51-seat majority in the Senate. Since January 2021 the chamber has been evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris giving the Dems nominal control but resulting in committees having equal numbers of members from each party. Democrats will now have more members on every committee and with that the power to compel testimony during investigations and hearings.
