Georgia’s US Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker is headed for a runoff. That’s after neither candidate achieved 50% of the vote.
Georgia’s election law requires a runoff when no candidate obtains at least 50% of the vote. The runoff involves only the top two vote-getters in the general election to ensure that a 50% majority is reached by one of the candidates.
Georgia’s runoff to determine who occupies its junior US Senate seat come January will be held on December 6. With the seat possibly being the tie-breaking vote in a Senate nearly equally balanced between Democrats and Republicans, reports suggest more than $200 million could be poured into the high-stakes runoff.
Early bettors for the election showdown are backing Warnock. On PredictIt, Warnock’s shares on the political betting exchange are trading at 75 cents. Walker is a considerable underdog at just 30 cents.
Democratic Wakeup Call
Tuesday’s 2022 midterms were supposed to be a “red wave,” where Republicans took considerable control of both chambers of Congress. But for many reasons, the red wave was more of a ripple.
Though the GOP will likely assume power in the US House of Representatives, the Senate remains up for grabs.
Votes in Nevada are still being tallied, and former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s (R) lead against Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto continues to dwindle as mail-in ballots continue to be counted. The majority of the mail-in vote has been strongly in Cortez Masto’s favor.
If Democrats can keep Cortez Masto in Washington, DC, and Sen. Mark Kelly from Arizona, where votes are still counted, the Senate makeup for the 118th Congress would be 50 Democrats to 49 Republicans. The final seat would be determined in Georgia.
The Democrats’ surprising midterms performance, highlighted by Senator-elect John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, should rile up Democratic Georgians to come out in full force to ensure Warnock is reelected and the Senate remains in the party’s control.
If Democrats don’t reach 51 seats and the Senate is split 50-50, as it currently is, the tiebreaking vote would continue to be the sitting vice president, Kamala Harris. That would only heighten the importance of the 2024 presidential election.
Biden Back
The midterms signaled a victory for President Joe Biden, whose chances of running again in 2024 have consequently improved. Biden said Wednesday he intends to seek a second four-year term in the White House.
Tuesday was also a good night for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The rising star could be the new face of the Republican Party. Bettors certainly think so. The latest odds suggest DeSantis is the 2024 favorite.
PredictIt bettors give DeSantis about a 30% chance of winning the White House in two years. Former President Donald Trump is next at 28%, and Biden is third at 25%.
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