Georgia Senate election results: Jon Ossoff declared runoff winner as ‘militia gathers’ at state Capitol
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Your support makes all the difference.Democrats took control of the Senate after Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler by razor-thin margins.
The victories were overshadowed by riots in Washington DC as a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the count of the Electoral College votes declaring Joe Biden as president elect.
The chaos spread to Georgia as governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger were reportedly evacuated after a 'militia' gathered outside the state Capitol.
Mr Ossoff, 33, becomes the youngest man to enter the Senate since president-elect Joe Biden did so himself in 1973 while Reverend Warnock becomes the state’s first black senator and only the second black senator elected to represent a former Confederate state.
Their wins mean that both parties have 50 senators each, leaving the deciding vote in legislative matters with vice president-elect Kamala Harris and seeing Mitch McConnell deposed as majority leader.
- Washington DC riots - live: ‘Shots fired’ heard on police radio as armed Trump supporters storm Capitol
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- Armed pro-Trump rioters breach US capitol as lawmakers shelter in place
Why are forecasters calling the race already?
While the GOP candidates have the edge in tabulated votes, a majority of outstanding ballots that have not yet been counted are in the Democrat-leaning Atlanta area. It’s a tight race, and election officials do not expect an outcome imminently, but election analysts do not believe Republicans will outperform voter turnout expectations.
Once votes from DeKalb County arrive, the scale is predicted to tip heavily towards Jon Ossoff in that race.
Yes, a recount is possible in these elections
Georgia election officials performed three recounts of the presidential election results, all showing Joe Biden the clear winner in that race.
If the results come down to a margin of .5 percentage points, an automatic recount is triggered. Election analysts predict a razor-thin race tonight, but it’s possible that the Democrats could walk away with significantly higher margins over Republicans than Biden’s over Trump’s, based on tonight’s results.
A teachable moment
Predictably, as Democratic-leaning counties report their votes, tilting their results through a process called, well, “counting,” the president’s son Eric chimed in:
And the president was not too far behind:
Michael McDonald with the vital US Election Project had this prescient advice:
Elections rest with DeKalb County
Voting systems manager Gabriel Sterling issues a reminder:
Election analysts are waiting for those votes, expected to lean Democratic in the Atlanta area, before making the race calls.
From Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Patricia Murphy: Jon Ossoff’s wife Dr Alisha Kramer is working tonight, so she will get election updates between patients.
Neither Democrats are holding traditional election night watch parties due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The state’s Republican party, on the other hand:
Drudge emerges to congratulate... Raphael Warnock
Did anyone have this on their bingo boards? A rare appearance from Matt Drudge, with a congratulatory post for Raphael Warnock, and a dig at Ann Coulter.
‘It’s going to be a long night’: Officials continue to process, verify and tally DeKalb County votes
Here’s a look at the line from earlier this evening outside the DeKalb County elections office to submit the chips that contain ballots from today’s votes from across the county’s nearly 200 voting precincts.
Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Wilborn P Nobles III reports that officials are also working to verify oath signatures on ballot envelopes for the mail-in ballots.
Despite the huge volume of votes and people, it’s working like how it’s supposed to, an election official told him.
”It’s like a busy beehive really because everyone is doing their own task here,” he said.
Election analysts predict a big boost for Democratic senate candidates from the Atlanta-area, Democratic-leaning county. Joe Biden won the county with 83 per cent of the vote.
Warnock projected to defeat Loeffler
Rev Raphael Warnock is projected to unseat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, according to the race call from Decision Desk.
If elected, he will be the first Black senator to serve Georgia and only the 11th ever Black candidate elected to the Senate.
The pastor, who serves the church where Martin Luther King Jr preached, will be one of three sitting Black senators, joining Cory Booker and Tim Scott.
Where things stand at midnight
Roughly 28,000 in-person early vote ballots remain to be counted, and results from more than a dozen counties aren’t complete.
Right-wing conspiracy theorists have attacked election workers in Chatham County, working since 8am counting ballots, after they were dismissed with several thousand ballots reamining.
Voting systems manager Gabriel Sterling came to their defence, adding that the remaining ballots are absentee ballots that arrived today.
The race between Jon Ossoff and David Perdue is still too close to call, likely falling within a .5 per cent margin that triggers a recount, though analysts project Ossoff unseated his GOP opponent.
His victory, along with Raphael Warnock’s projected win, could ensure a Democratic majority in Congress under Joe Biden’s administration.
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