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U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) speaks during an election night party
“The people have spoken,” US Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said late Tuesday night as he took the stage after winning a nail-biter run-off election in Georgia. Warnock narrowly defeated his GOP rival Herschel Walker, of former NFL fame, to give Dems a 51-seat majority in the upper chamber. (Neither candidate reaped 50% of votes in the first round last month, sending the Peach State back to the polls for round two.) This result confirms that Senate Dems protected every seat they had on the ballot in last month’s midterms, as well as flipping one crucial seat in Pennsylvania. This edge means that Team Blue will now lead every Senate committee, giving them more wiggle room to confirm President Biden’s judicial picks and prevent their Senate rivals from tinkering with legislation. The defeat of Walker, backed by Donald Trump, is another big blow for the former president, whose interventions in the midterm election proved disastrous for the GOP. It also confirms that Georgia, once a deep-red state where Brian Kemp recently won reelection as governor, is now a battleground state that's up for grabs in 2024.