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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters connected Tuesday are deciding the country’s last Senate contest, choosing betwixt Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican shot fable Herschel Walker aft a four-week runoff blitz that has drawn a flood of extracurricular spending to an progressively idiosyncratic fight.
This year’s runoff has little stakes than the 2 successful 2021, erstwhile victories by Warnock and chap Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff gave Democrats power of the Senate. But it’s inactive important: The result volition find whether Democrats person an outright 51-49 Senate bulk oregon power a 50-50 enclosure based connected Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.
Cold, rainy conditions greeted voters successful the Atlanta area. At an simple schoolhouse successful suburban Johns Creek, lines formed earlier the polls opened but aboriginal moved swiftly with voters undeterred by the weather.
Stephanie Jackson Ali, argumentation manager for the progressive New Georgia Project Action Fund, said the radical had seen fewer issues astir the state. Lines were advancing and instrumentality issues were being addressed promptly, she said.
The runoff brings to a adjacent a bitter combat betwixt Warnock, the state’s archetypal Black legislator and the elder curate of the Atlanta religion wherever Martin Luther King Jr. preached, and Walker, a erstwhile University of Georgia shot prima and governmental novice who has campaigned with the enactment of erstwhile President Donald Trump.
A Warnock triumph would solidify Georgia’s presumption arsenic a battleground heading into the 2024 statesmanlike election. A triumph for Walker, however, could beryllium an denotation of Democratic weakness, particularly fixed that Georgia Republicans swept each different statewide contention past month.
In the November election, Warnock led Walker by astir 37,000 votes retired of astir 4 cardinal but fell shy of a majority, triggering the 2nd circular of voting. About 1.9 cardinal runoff votes already person been formed by message and during aboriginal voting, an vantage for Democrats whose voters much commonly formed ballots this way. Republicans typically fare amended connected voting done connected Election Day.
Last month, Walker, 60, ran much than 200,000 votes down Republican Gov. Brian Kemp aft a run dogged by his meandering run speeches and damaging allegations, including claims that helium paid for 2 erstwhile girlfriends’ abortions — accusations that Walker has denied.
Atlanta elector Tom Callaway praised the Republican Party’s spot successful Georgia and said he’d supported Kemp successful the opening circular of voting. But helium formed his ballot Tuesday for Warnock due to the fact that helium didn’t deliberation “Herschel Walker has the credentials to beryllium a senator.”
“I didn’t judge helium had a connection of what helium truly believed successful oregon had a run that made sense,” Callaway said.
Warnock, whose 2021 triumph was successful a peculiar predetermination to service retired the remainder of GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term, says he’s convinced capable voters, including independents and mean Republicans, that helium deserves a afloat term.
“I deliberation they’re going to get this right,” the 53-year-old legislator said Monday. “They cognize this contention is astir competence and character.”
Walker campaigned Monday with his wife, Julie, greeting supporters and offering acknowledgment alternatively than his accustomed run code and attacks connected Warnock.
“I emotion y’all, and we’re gonna triumph this election,” helium said astatine a winery successful Ellijay, comparing the predetermination to his diversion success. “I emotion winning championships.
Warnock’s run has spent astir $170 cardinal connected the campaign, acold outpacing Walker’s astir $60 million, according to their latest national disclosures. Democratic and Republican enactment committees, on with different governmental enactment committees, person spent adjacent more.
The legislator has paired his bipartisanship with an accent connected idiosyncratic values, buoyed by his presumption arsenic elder pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. However, opening with the closing agelong earlier the Nov. 8 wide election, Warnock added withering takedowns of Walker, utilizing the shot star’s rocky past to reason that the governmental newcomer was “not ready” and “not fit” for precocious office.
Walker, who utilized his diversion fame to seashore to the GOP nomination, has sought to represent Warnock arsenic a yes-man for President Joe Biden. He has sometimes made the onslaught successful particularly idiosyncratic terms, accusing Warnock of “being connected his knees, begging” astatine the White House — a searing complaint for a Black challenger to level against a Black legislator astir his narration with a achromatic president.
A multimillionaire businessman, Walker has inflated his philanthropic activities and business achievements, including claiming that his institution employed hundreds of radical and grossed tens of millions of dollars successful income annually, adjacent though aboriginal records bespeak helium had 8 employees and averaged astir $1.5 cardinal a year. He has suggested that he’s worked arsenic a instrumentality enforcement serviceman and said helium graduated college, though helium has done neither.
Walker was besides forced to admit during the run that helium had fathered 3 children retired of wedlock whom helium had ne'er earlier spoken astir publically — successful struggle with his yearslong disapproval of absentee fathers and his calls for Black men, successful particular, to play an progressive relation successful their kids’ lives.
His ex-wife said Walker erstwhile held a weapon to her caput and threatened to termination her. He has ne'er denied those specifics and wrote of his convulsive tendencies successful a 2008 memoir that attributed the behaviour to intelligence illness.
Warnock has countered with his idiosyncratic Senate accomplishments, touting a proviso helium sponsored to headdress insulin costs for Medicare patients and reminding voters that Republicans blocked his larger thought to headdress those costs for each insulin-dependent patients. He hailed deals connected infrastructure and maternal wellness attraction forged with Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, mentioning those GOP colleagues much than helium did Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer oregon different Democrats successful Washington.
After the wide election, Biden, who has struggled with debased support ratings, promised to assistance Warnock successful immoderate mode helium could, adjacent if it meant staying distant from Georgia. Warnock campaigned alternatively with erstwhile President Barack Obama successful the days earlier the runoff.
Walker was endorsed by Trump but avoided campaigning with him until the campaign’s last day: The brace conducted a league telephone Monday with supporters, according to a Republican National Committee spokesperson.
Walker’s candidacy is the GOP’s past accidental to flip a Senate spot this year. Dr. Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania, Blake Masters of Arizona, Adam Laxalt of Nevada and Don Bolduc of New Hampshire, each Trump loyalists, mislaid competitory Senate races that Republicans considered portion of their way to a majority.
Walker has separated himself from Trump successful a notable way. Trump has spent 2 years falsely claiming that his nonaccomplishment successful Georgia and nationally was fraudulent, contempt the information that galore national and section officials, a agelong database of courts, apical erstwhile run staffers and adjacent his lawyer wide person each said determination is nary grounds of the fraud helium alleges.
At his lone statement against Warnock successful October, Walker was asked whether he’d judge the results adjacent if helium lost. He replied with 1 word: “Yes.”
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Associated Press Writer Ron Harris contributed to this report.
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