(WASHINGTON) — ABC News projects that Raphael Warnock has won a full six-year term representing Georgia in the Senate, fending off GOP nominee Herschel Walker in Tuesday’s runoff.
The race attracted an avalanche of money and attention as well as record-high turnout from state voters as Democrats fought for a 51st Senate seat and Republicans vied to keep the chamber at 50-50 after neither candidate cracked 50% in the November general election, triggering a runoff.
Here are four takeaways from election night round two:
Democrats expand their margin in the Senate
Warnock’s win delivers Democrats an outright majority in the Senate, which will now be split 51-49. Democrats only control the current Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaker.
With their new margin, Democrats will no longer have to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with Republicans to form a functioning Senate and will have majorities in committees, easing the path for legislation and nominees to make it to the full chamber floor.
Democratic leadership will also have a bit more leeway in navigating their caucus, which includes both progressive independents like Bernie Sanders of Vermont and centrist Democrats like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema.
In the 50-50 split, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had to ensure there are no dissenters to have successful votes.
Democrats’ increased majority is also a boost heading into 2024, when the party faces a daunting Senate map that will see them defending 23 seats, including in red states like Ohio and West Virginia, while Republicans will defend only 10, mostly in historically friendly regions.
How Warnock won
Warnock held onto his seat in part by boosting his margins in the counties in and around Atlanta, putting Walker away by pulling in numbers in the urban and suburban areas that made up his base of support. With the final ballots still being counted as of early Wednesday, Warnock was ahead by about 2% after only running ahead of Walker by 1% in November.
In Fulton County, which encompasses most of Atlanta, Warnock was winning about 77% of the vote as of just after midnight on Wednesday — compared with 75% of the vote in last month’s general election, marking a small but crucial advantage. In Richmond County, home of Augusta, Warnock won about 70% of the vote Tuesday compared with 68% last month.
Walker drew the same result or even expanded his margins in deep red rural counties, compared to November, particularly in north Georgia. But there were not enough votes there to overcome Warnock’s edge in the state’s more populous areas.
Warnock’s victory in the runoff is geographically similar to November, suggesting he won with the support of a similar coalition of voters, including Black Georgians, suburbanites and independents like a key minority of voters who split their ticket by choosing Warnock along with Republicans like Gov. Brian Kemp.
Walker’s loss extends tough cycle for Trump, Republicans
Walker’s loss continues what many in the GOP have described as a disappointing midterm cycle for them and for former President Donald Trump.
Heading into November, expectations of major victories were high given President Joe Biden’s lackluster approval ratings and voter concerns about high inflation, on top of historical trends suggesting in-power party suffers in midterm elections.
However, exit polling from November showed that while people disapproved of Biden’s job performance, they were also thinking of candidate quality and voted against Republicans who are closely aligned with Trump — like Walker, who dismissed a series of personal scandals on the trail.
What’s next
With Warnock’s projected win, the 2022 midterms are now over.
Next up on the political calendar is the start of the next Congress, in early January, followed by three gubernatorial races in 2023, in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. Democrats hold the governor’s mansion in the first two states, while Mississippi has a Republican governor.
Next year will also likely see a ramp up of activity in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Trump has already launched a run, though several others, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, former Vice President Mike Pence and more, are believed to be considering bids.
(ATLANTA) — After record-breaking early voting turnout last week, Georgians continued to head to the polls in Tuesday’s Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker.
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said in a news conference Tuesday evening that it looked like Georgia had 1.4 million people cast their votes on Election Day.
“This was the most in-person voting we’ve had since the launch of the new system,” Sterling said. “It looks like we probably beat the Election Day vote of November 2022, which was the highest. And we know it was more than November 2020, and it was more than the runoff in 2021.”
“We have record turnout across the board,” Sterling added. “We had record turnout for a runoff in a midterm. We had record turnout for early voting. We had a record use of absentee ballots. This system in place allows voters ease of use, their choice of freestyle voting and essentially, on Election Day, no lines.”
Tuesday’s turnout numbers are in addition to the nearly 1.9 million Georgians who already voted early or cast an absentee ballot, which is more than a quarter of registered voters.
Approximately 352,953 people voted on Friday alone — a new record — on was the last day of early voting.
Sterling was tweeting throughout Tuesday to give updates on Election Day, including touting low wait times at polling stations across the state and assuring residents things were “running smoothly.”
Warnock and Walker are facing off after neither clinched 50% of the vote in the November election. While majority control of the Senate has already been called for Democrats, the Georgia runoff will determine if Democrats add to their advantage or Republicans keep the even 50-50 divide in the chamber, which would create procedural obstacles for Democrats.
Warnock, at an Election Day canvass lunch in Norcross, urged supporters not to get deterred by rainy weather and to keep going to the polls.
“It’s Election Day. I want to tell everybody to go out and vote,” he said. “We had historic turnout during the early voting period. But we should not rest on our laurels. The job is not done.”
Walker also praised early voting numbers, telling ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott on Tuesday that “one of the best things we did during the early election, I think, [was] people got out and voted.”
Walker also dodged commenting on Warnock’s questioning of his character and competence amid a series of controversies this cycle.
“We’re talking about your character .. . we’re talking about right now,” Walker said. “Georgia voters voted. Right now, I’ll put my character against Raphael Warnock any day. Right now I’ve done a lot of things,” he said.
Asked about his reaction to Walker’s comments, Warnock told ABC News: “My opponent says many things. You can’t believe any of it.”
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Editor’s Note — Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the recipients of the subpoenas included some Trump associates. The subpoenas were only issued to state election officials.
The special counsel investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election has issued subpoenas to officials from multiple states that were targeted by former President Donald Trump and his allies in the failed attempt to reverse his loss to Joe Biden.
According to a copy of a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith, obtained by ABC News, the Justice Department is seeking any and all records related to communications by state elections officials with Trump or his advisers and allies, including Kenneth Chesebro, Justin Clark, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn, Bernard Kerik, Bruce Marks, Cleta Mitchell, Matthew Morgan, Kurt Olsen, William Olsen, Stefan Passantino, Sidney Powell, Bill Stepien, Victoria Toensing, James Troupis and Lin Wood, between June 1, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021.
The subpoenas were issued to officials in states including Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin.
The subpoena, dated Nov. 22, asks the recipient to provide the records to a grand jury seated in Washington, D.C., by Dec. 9, 2022. News of the subpoenas was first reported by The Washington Post.
In Wisconsin, Dane County clerk Scott McDonell, who received the subpoena sent to his office, told ABC News that he will be providing records regarding his communication with former Trump attorney Jim Troupis. McDonell said the records are “mostly transcripts of the 2020 recount.”
The Michigan secretary of state’s office confirmed to ABC News that Wayne County received a subpoena, but said the office is not aware of other counties receiving subpoenas.
In Arizona, Maricopa County spokesperson Fields Moseley told ABC News that the county has received a subpoena, and “will comply.”
Smith is also overseeing the criminal probe of Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents at his Florida home.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.
(HOUSTON) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s office said late Tuesday that his daughter is OK and asked for privacy for the family after Houston police and fire personnel were called to his home.
“This is a family matter and thankfully their daughter is okay,” Cruz’s representatives said in a statement to ABC affiliate KTRK-TV and other outlets.
“There were no serious injuries. The family requests the media respect their daughter’s privacy at this time,” Cruz’s office said.
According to KTRK, the Houston Police Department said they received reports just before 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday of a 14-year-old with self-inflicted stab wounds on their arms in the neighborhood River Oaks, where the Republican lawmaker resides with his wife, Heidi, and their two daughters.
Authorities said the unidentified teen was taken to the hospital but could not say whether the 911 call involved a member of Cruz’s family.
When KTRK arrived to the scene, police officers were outside Cruz’s home.
(ATLANTA) — Georgia’s Senate runoff between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker came to a close on Tuesday, with Warnock projected by ABC News to defeat Walker, after more than a year of campaigning, multiple controversies and record-breaking turnout.
While the race didn’t determine control of the Senate, it did increase Democrats’ power in the chamber — where Vice President Kamala Harris currently has to break ties — rather than see the Republicans win a 50th seat and create procedural obstacles.
Walker, a businessman and local football legend, and Warnock, a noted reverend in Atlanta, first faced off in November’s general election. But neither got 50% of the vote as required by state law, leading to Tuesday’s runoff after about a week of early voting.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 07, 2:48 AM EST
Warnock on his win: ‘The people have spoken’
Warnock celebrated his projected victory on Tuesday night in Atlanta, walking out to a crowd chanting “six more years.”
“After a hard-fought campaign — or should I say campaigns? — it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken,” Warnock said to cheers.
He thanked the crowd for their support, in particular his mother.
“She grew up in the 1950s in Waycross, Georgia, picking somebody else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco,” he said. “But tonight she helped pick her youngest son to be a United States senator.”
Warnock called himself a “proud son of Savannah” while discussing his deep roots in the state.
“I am Georgia,” he said. “I am an example and an iteration of its history, of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the possibility.”
“But because this is America, because we always have a path to make this country greater against unspeakable odds, here we stand together,” he continued.
Warnock said he plans to keep working for all Georgians, including in areas like lowering prescription costs, creating jobs across the state and addressing criminal justice reform.
“I’m ready to keep doing this work,” he said in closing. “Let’s build a stronger Georgia.”
Dec 07, 12:59 AM EST
Walker acknowledges defeat: ‘We put up one heck of a fight’
Walker acknowledged defeat at his election night party on Tuesday, admitting in a speech to supporters that media outlets had projected he lost to his Democratic opponent.
“But one of the things I said … when they called the race as they didn’t know much, but one of the things I want to tell all you is you never stopped dreaming,” he said.
“I’m not gonna make any excuses now, because we put up one heck of a fight,” he added.
The Trump-backed Walker, who has enjoyed an accomplished football and business career and is a father and two-time husband, said his run for the Senate was the “best thing I’ve ever done in my whole entire life.”
He continued on to deliver largely hopeful remarks, encouraging his voters to keep casting their ballots and believe in the country.
“I don’t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them because all the prayers you’ve given me, I felt those prayers,” Walker said.
“I want to thank all my team as well [as] team Herschel because they put up with a lot, and I want to thank all my donors as well because you guys, without you, I couldn’t have done what I’ve done,” he said.
Walker noted a “tough” journey for his wife — a possible reference to some of the personal controversies that plagued his campaign, including some accusations he denied as political smears.
“I’m going to acknowledge my wife, Julie, because she’s with me and she’d been through a tough time,” he began.
“But I want to say that I want to thank all of you as well, because we’ve had a tough journey,” he continued.
Walker ended by saying he was “never gonna stop fighting.”
“Because I always am a winner and we all winner, so we all winners, and that’s what I want to say, well, winners, and I want to say God to the good God,” he said.
Dec 07, 1:15 AM EST
Walker’s son Christian excoriates his father amid results
Walker’s son was quick to respond to his father’s projected loss in the election, implying that the number of controversies that arose throughout his campaign — many of which Walker has denied or dismissed as political smears — contributed to his defeat.
Christian Walker, a conservative social media personality, recently became openly critical of his dad. He denounced Herschel Walker in a series of social media posts and videos in early October after the candidate denied a Daily Beast report that he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Herschel Walker has campaigned for the Senate as an anti-abortion politician.
In a string of tweets Tuesday night, the younger Walker touched on many of scandals swirling around the candidate, including those related to abortion, allegations of past domestic violence and absentee parenting.
“Chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family,” he wrote in one tweet.
“The Truth: Trump called my dad for months DEMANDING that he run. Everyone with a brain begged him: “PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS,” Christian Walker continued..
Later, during an audio-only event on Twitter when he took questions about his thoughts of his father and the election, Christian Walker told ABC News it had been a while since they spoke but he didn’t rule out a reconciliation at some point.
“It’s hard because I’m angry right now. But you know, I need some time to breathe, I know, I’ll say that,” he said. “And honestly, the thing that I want most out of him is, at the end of the day, gosh, time flies, like I’m an adult. So I’m grown. I’m making money … Go be the best dad.”
Herschel Walker tweeted in October, in response to some of Christian Walker’s criticisms: “I LOVE my son no matter what.”
Dec 06, 11:02 PM EST
Schumer declares Warnock’s projected victory a win for ‘democracy’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declared Warnock’s projected defeat of Walker a win for “democracy.”
The victory, which secures a 51-49 majority for Senate Democrats, proves that “Democrats are in sync with the American people and MAGA Republicans are not,” Schumer said in a statement.
“Reverend Warnock’s well-earned win is not just a victory for Georgia, but also for democracy — as the last brick in our firewall against extremist MAGA Republican policies that threaten the very essence of our democracy,” the statement continued.
Dec 06, 10:57 PM EST
Scenes from Election Day in Georgia
Georgia voters turned out to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the Senate runoff election between Warnock and Walker.
ABC News has projected that Warnock will win the runoff, making him Georgia’s first Black full-term senator. He has served in the seat since 2021, when he won a runoff against GOP incumbent Kelly Loeffler.
Photos showed supporters of both campaigns gathering to watch results come in.
Filmmaker Spike Lee rallied the crowd at an election night watch party for Warnock in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Voters shattered turnout records this runoff election. Despite rainy weather in parts of the state, some 1.4 million people cast a ballot on Tuesday, according to state officials.
Dec 06, 10:45 PM EST
How Warnock will make history again
Warnock is projected to make history yet again as the senator of Georgia.
In 2021, he became the first Black senator from Georgia after winning a runoff for a partial term.
With ABC News projecting him to win the Tuesday runoff against Walker, Warnock will become the first Black senator elected to a full six-year term in the state.
Either winner of the close race would have achieved that barrier-breaking feat.
Warnock became only the second Black senator elected from the South since the Reconstruction era, when he won last year’s runoff against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
Dec 06, 10:28 PM EST
Warnock projected to defeat Walker, expanding Democrats’ Senate majority
Warnock has defeated Walker in Tuesday’s runoff election in Georgia, ABC News projects.
Warnock’s victory means Democrats will expand their majority in the chamber to 51 seats, compared to Republicans’ 49.
The Georgia runoff was the final election of the 2022 midterms.
Dec 06, 10:22 PM EST
Biden says: ‘We’re going to win Georgia’
As he stepped off Air Force Once on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter to comment on the election in Georgia.
“We’re going to win,” he replied on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, after returning from a trip to Arizona. “We’re going to win Georgia.”
He then boarded his vehicle to drive back into Washington.
Dec 06, 10:21 PM EST
Inside Warnock headquarters as vote tallies come in
ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, reporting from inside Warnock’s headquarters on Tuesday night, said the energy in the room was like a “block party.”
“The music somehow gets louder, you have a choir singing over my shoulder here,” Scott told “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.
“People in this room, I can tell you Linsey, they are feeling very confident,” Scott later reported. “Just moments ago they said, ‘We are almost across the finish line.’ This race is still too close to call. Big picture, yes it is tight, but the campaign is keeping their eyes on some of those areas … right around Atlanta where the votes are still being counted right now. They know that if they do well there and those Democratic-leaning areas, they’re going to be on track to have a good night.”
Dec 06, 10:12 PM EST
Where tallies stand in metro Atlanta
Amid the tight race so far, here’s what percentage of the expected vote remains uncounted in several Democratic-leaning metro Atlanta counties:
DeKalb County: 35%
Fulton County: 33%
Cobb County: 15%
Gwinnett County: 10%
Dec 06, 10:10 PM EST
FiveThirtyEight analysis: What a Warnock win could signal for national Republicans
FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver gives an analysis of the potential Warnock victory: So if the trend here holds, Republicans are going to wind up not picking up even a single Democratic-held Senate seat. That’s pretty hard to do. Even in 1998 and 2002 (relatively bad midterms for the opposition party), they did pick up at least one Senate seat while others flipped in the other direction.
Dec 06, 10:08 PM EST
Walker loss would be ‘indictment’ against GOP, says Pence’s former chief of staff
Marc Short, former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, said Tuesday night as vote counting continued that while the race remained close, he expected outstanding ballots from Atlanta and suburban counties to favor Warnock.
“I would anticipate that you’ll see Sen. Warnock widen his lead, which if that is the case, I think it’s an incredible indictment against the Republican Party in Georgia because we’ll have lost three Senate races within two years in a state where Joe Biden currently has a negative 18 approval rating,” Short told “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.
“I think it is an unfortunate circumstance for Republicans if it does unfold the way I anticipate it will over the last 24% of the vote,” Short added.
Pressed on whether there should be a party “reckoning” over candidate quality — an issue that plagued the GOP this cycle despite polling showing voters disproving of Democrats over inflation and crime — Short told Davis: “I think that reckoning is already happening, it began with the midterm results a month ago.”
Dec 06, 10:39 PM EST
ABC political director explains ‘seesawing’ results
ABC News Political Director Rick Klein, with 75% of the expected vote in, commented Tuesday night on the race between Warnock and Walker.
“A month ago they ran and it was settled by less than a percentage point, and this is tracking more like a 1- or 2-point race as opposed to a 3-point or 4-point race,” Klein said on “ABC News Live Prime.”
“This is looking very close despite some indications there might be a chance for Raphael Warnock to really open up a larger margin,” Klein added.
Walker and Warnock have been trading leads as votes continue to be counted. Klein attributed the “seesawing” to early voting leaning Democratic, while rural counties lean Republican. Vote tallies are now starting to come in from Atlanta and the surrounding suburban areas, where Warnock is winning by a large margin.
“Because we have so much vote left outside the Atlanta area, the Warnock campaign has to feel a little bit better about its chances,” Klein said.
Dec 06, 8:42 PM EST
FiveThirtyEight analysis: Warnock still favored in counties with most reporting in
FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley gives this initial analysis in their live blog of the ongoing results: Checking in on the trends in the 32 counties where at least 95% of the vote has reported, it’s not good enough so far for Walker to overtake Warnock. So far, Warnock is doing 0.6 points better across the total vote from those places. Now, we’re a long way from knowing where things end up because those counties only made up about 6% of the November vote. But we’re starting to get enough data points to make Warnock at least a slight favorite at this point.
Dec 06, 8:23 PM EST
Georgia sees ‘record turnout across the board,’ official says
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said in a news conference on Tuesday evening that it looked like Georgia had 1.4 million people cast their votes on Election Day.
“This was the most in-person voting we’ve had since the launch of the new system,” Sterling said. “It looks like we probably beat the Election Day vote of November 2022, which was the highest. And we know it was more than November 2020, and it was more than the runoff in 2021.”
“We have record turnout across the board,” Sterling added. “We had record turnout for a runoff in a midterm. We had record turnout for early voting. We had a record use of absentee ballots. This system in place allows voters ease of use, their choice of freestyle voting and essentially, on Election Day, no lines.”
Before Tuesday, nearly 1.9 million Georgians had already voted early or cast an absentee ballot last week.
Dec 06, 7:51 PM EST
What changes in Senate if Warnock wins the seat
If Warnock keeps his spot in the Senate, that means a 51-seat majority for Democrats after their other wins in the midterms, which would make governing much easier than the current 50-50 split.
That includes confirming judges — one of the few things that can be done in the Senate with a simple majority. With a Supreme Court dominated by Republican-nominated justices, Democrats have been eager to fill the lower courts with more liberal justices. A 51-seat majority could allow Democrats to move judges through the Senate confirmation process even faster, leaving them with more floor time to work on even more nominees or on other pieces of legislation they want to bring to a vote.
When it comes to legislation, Democrats would have the upper hand moving any of their legislation out of committee and to the floor for a vote with a 51-seat Senate. It would also give Democrats more breathing room when it comes to passing legislation by curtailing the influence of a single dissenting senator.
Additionally, Democrats would have a bit more security if a Supreme Court vacancy should open in the next two years.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Dec 06, 7:48 PM EST
What changes in Senate if Walker wins the seat
If Republican challenger Walker wins the Senate seat, the chamber would stay in its current power-sharing agreement.
A 50-50 split has meant Democrats can’t afford a single dissenter, leaving them with little breathing room in passing legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has had to constantly corral his caucus, which spans from conservative Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., all the way to progressive independents like Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. That dynamic would continue should Walker win the seat.
The split also slows the process for procedures like moving judicial nominees out of committee for a full vote. Republicans can block Biden nominees in the Judiciary Committee, forcing an additional vote on the Senate floor.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott has alluded to that in pitching Walker to voters, saying he could help “block” the Democratic majoriry.-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Dec 06, 7:03 PM EST
Polls now closed
Polls closed at 7 p.m. ET in the Georgia Senate runoff race.
State officials said Tuesday they anticipate record turnout for a midterm runoff, with more than 1.4 million votes possibly cast on Election Day, on top of the nearly 1.9 million early votes.
Dec 06, 7:02 PM EST
Latest Election Day turnout prediction: More than 1.4M possible
The Georgia secretary of state’s office said late Tuesday afternoon that more than 1.4 million Election Day votes were possible by the time polls close at 7 p.m. ET in the runoff election.
“We’re projecting that that could very well be the pace if not higher,” secretary of state spokesperson Robert Sinners said, responding to an ABC News inquiry referencing reporting by The New York Times, which cited their office as saying as of 3:45 p.m. that officials expected between 120,000 and 140,000 votes to be cast per hour until the polls close and 1.014 million votes cast so far.
This exceeds earlier predictions by Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office, who had said on Tuesday that between 1.1 million and 1.3 million people were likely to vote that day.
Sterling then said on CNN that the vote totals were getting close to the 1.35 million mark.
When it is all said and done, the secretary of state’s office told ABC News that, with Election Day and early votes, “in total, it will be a record turnout for a midterm runoff.”
Dec 06, 6:39 PM EST
A look back at Walker and Warnock’s campaign messages
Warnock, in his second consecutive runoff election in less than two years, has campaigned heavily in recent weeks on the theme of “character.”A reverend at Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church and Georgia’s first Black senator, Warnock also pitched himself to the battleground state’s voters as a pragmatic, experienced leader.
“I’ll put my character up against Raphael Warnock any day,” Warnock told ABC News on Tuesday.
While Walker has waved off or simply ignored the controversies surrounding his campaign, some of the issues raised by them have become a part of his messaging to voters on mental health, his Christian faith and his path to “redemption.”
Walker has also tried to paint Warnock as a “rubber stamp” for President Joe Biden, describing himself as a potential check on the administration, which is unpopular in Georgia.
Warnock, in response to Walker’s characterization of him, said he’s worked with Republicans during his nearly two years in Washington.
“I am the 18th most bipartisan senator in the Senate. Period,” Warnock told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott on Tuesday. “Now I know that’s an inconvenient fact for Mr. Walker. We also know that he’s allergic to facts, even the facts about his own life.”
Dec 06, 6:34 PM EST
When to expect results after polls close
After Georgia’s polls close at 7 p.m. ET, counties can begin reporting their vote totals, according to a Georgia secretary of state spokesperson. These numbers will most likely be early vote and absentees at first, which were able to start being tabulated at 7 a.m. on Tuesday
“Counties move through reporting Election Day totals as quickly as they can. Steady pace is typically the norm,” spokesperson Robert said.
Dec 06, 5:46 PM EST
Look at Walker’s longtime relationship with Trump
Though former President Donald Trump has steered clear of Georgia during Walker’s runoff campaign, Trump has been a prominent backer of the candidate.
Their decades-long relationship traces back to when Walker was a pro football player; in 1983, the Heisman Trophy winner joined the New Jersey Generals in the now-defunct United States Football League. The team was sold to Trump after the 1983 season. Herschel was signed by the Cowboys in 1986, the same year the United States Football League folded.
In 2009, Walker was a contestant on Trump’s reality TV show “The Celebrity Apprentice,” in a season won by Joan Rivers.
During his presidency, Trump appointed Walker to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition in 2018, and then as the council’s co-chair in 2020. The Biden administration requested that Walker resign from the two-year position earlier this year due to an administration policy barring federal candidates from serving on presidential boards.
Walker entered the Republican primary in the Georgia Senate race in August 2021 at the urging of Trump, whose support largely cleared the field, and Trump prominently supported him throughout the race.
Trump backed Walker after the anti-abortion candidate denied an ex-girlfriend’s claim that he paid for her to have an abortion in 2009.
In announcing his third bid for the White House last month, Trump urged voters in Georgia to support Walker, who also spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Committee.
Dec 06, 4:42 PM EST
More than 800,000 Georgians have cast their votes
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that Election Day turnout had exceeded 800,000 votes so far.
Sterling said he anticipated between 1.1 million and 1.3 million people would vote on Tuesday. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
“We walked in thinking we’d at least go over 1 million,” Sterling said. “We’re guaranteed to go over 1.1 million, probably approaching 1.2 million.”
Dec 06, 4:25 PM EST
Georgians discuss their votes for and against Walker on Election Day
ABC News on Tuesday spoke to Kirk Watkins, a voter in Buckhead, an upscale neighborhood in Atlanta where Republican Herschel Walker underperformed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in November. Watkins said he split his ticket during the general election to cast his ballot for Kemp but also for Warnock instead of Walker.
“He’s a joke,” Watkins said of why he didn’t support Walker. “Well, he’s yet to make a statement that makes any sense. He has no policies and he’s hand-selected by Trump for no particular reason. Just because.”
Kemp earned his support because he “did the right thing” by standing up to Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, Watkins said.
Other Republican voters said on Election Day they were rallying behind Walker but weren’t too confident he can seal the deal. Some worried a rainy, cold day could hurt GOP turnout.
Voter Danny Alea in Marietta, part of Cobb County in metro Atlanta where Walker also underperformed Kemp, said he’s voting for Walker only because he is the only option against Warnock.
“Well, he’s the only Republican choice left standing and there’s just no way I can vote for Warnock,” Alea said. He called his vote for Walker an “easy choice” and insisted the country is going “backwards” under Democrats.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott
Dec 06, 4:06 PM EST
Georgia official predicts Election Day turnout to exceed 1 million
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, predicted on social media that Election Day turnout will “exceed 1 million.”
That would be on top of the nearly 1.9 million people who’ve already voted early or cast an absentee ballot. Georgia shattered records for early voting turnout in the runoff between Warnock and Walker.
As of Tuesday morning, Sterling wrote on Twitter that 250,000 people had already gone to the polls to vote that day. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Dec 06, 4:05 PM EST
Warnock: ‘We’re leaving it all on the field’
At an Election Day canvass launch in the metro Atlanta suburb Norcross, Sen. Warnock told supporters not to get deterred by the light rain and to show up big at the polls.
“We’re not leaving anything to chance which is why we’re standing out here getting sprinkled and baptized. We’re leaving it all on the field. But I got a feeling that the people of Georgia are gonna get this right and we’re gonna get this done one more time,” Warnock said to cheers.
Still, he told supporters not to “rest on our laurels,” arguing there was still a pathway to victory for Walker.
“More of our voters tend to vote during the early period. And more of [Walker’s] voters tend to vote on Election Day. So if you haven’t voted, by all means vote,” Warnock said. “And if you’ve already voted, your job still isn’t done until everybody in your circle [votes].”
Warnock said he wasn’t thinking about the Senate majority heading into election night.
“I know folks are doing all the other calculations and that’s fine. But this really is about who’s going to represent Georgia,” he said.
Asked about his reaction to Walker’s comments that he will “put my character up against Raphael Warnock any day,” Warnock told ABC News, “My opponent says many things. You can’t believe any of it.”
Dec 06, 2:30 PM EST
Top official says Election Day ‘running smoothly,’ turnout ‘steady’
A top election official in Georgia’s secretary of state’s office, Gabriel Sterling, said Tuesday on social media that Election Day voting was “running smoothly” and that, as of around noon local time, the average wait to vote statewide was down to one minute.
Sterling, the deputy interim secretary of state, wrote on Twitter that his office estimated more than 250,000 Georgians had cast their ballots that morning, calling the turnout “steady.”
On Friday alone, the last day of early voting for the Senate runoff, 352,953 people cast ballots, according to state elections data — bringing the total number of early votes, either in person or absentee, to more than 1.8 million — shattering early in-person voting records for the state.
Republicans are hoping for a high Election Day turnout as data indicates that more Democrats got out the vote early.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Dec 06, 12:31 PM EST
Walker dodges Warnock’s attacks on his character
ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Herschel Walker on Election Day about his rival questioning his character and competence — and if he was confident that he could flip Sen. Raphael Warnock’s seat.
“I’m not going to answer that,” Walker said, repeating a version anytime he was presented with his opponent’s name. “We’re going out to win this election. So this election, I’m telling people to get out to vote.”
“Hershel Walker is going to be your senator, and we’re going to get things changed,” Walker added.
When pressed further, Walker said, “The reason I’m not going to address that is because it doesn’t need to be addressed … Right now, I’ll put my character against Raphael Warnock any day. Right now, I’ve done a lot of things.”
Walker’s strategy in the final stretch has been to link Warnock to President Joe Biden, labeling him a “rubber stamp” for Biden’s agenda, a characterization Warnock has rejected.
“I am the 18th most bipartisan senator in the Senate. Period,” Warnock told Scott on Monday. “Now I know that’s an inconvenient fact for Mr. Walker. We also know that he’s allergic to facts, even the facts about his own life.”
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Dec 06, 12:17 PM EST
Who is Raphael Warnock?
Warnock is running in his fourth election in under two years as he fights for a full six-year term representing the battleground state.
Warnock is currently at the helm of as Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, which was famously led by Martin Luther King Jr. He has campaigned on a personal history steeped in religion and social justice.
He has also touted his current work during his short time in Congress, including some bipartisan priorities.
“I’m not a senator who used to be a pastor. You might as well know that you sent a pastor to the Senate,” Warnock told canvassers in October.
In 2020, Warnock was accused by then-wife Ouleye of running over her foot amid their divorce proceedings.
Neither police nor medical professionals were able to find evidence to show that she was injured, and Warnock was not charged with any crimes. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the claim: “It didn’t happen.”
Dec 06, 12:16 PM EST
Who is Herschel Walker?
Walker hopes to do what former Sen. Kelly Loeffler could not and defeat Warnock in a runoff election in Georgia.
Walker is a football legend in the state known for scoring touchdowns in the University of Georgia’s 1980 championship season.
Now a businessman, he entered the Senate primary in August 2021 at the urging of former President Donald Trump, a longtime friend, whose swift support largely cleared the field.
“I’m here to win the seat for the Georgia people because the Georgia people need a winner,” he said in October.
Both the November election and the runoff have seen Walker deny a series of allegations from women, including that he paid for their abortions, which he has said is not true. He is running as a staunchly anti-abortion candidate.
During the campaign, Walker’s past also received new scrutiny, such as resurfaced reports about violence in his first marriage — which he didn’t contest — amid what he said was a struggle with dissociative identity disorder.
Dec 06, 12:16 PM EST
Election Day is here for midterm’s final battle
In Georgia, the stage is set for the final Senate battle of the midterm election as voters head back to the polls on Tuesday for the runoff election between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.
In November’s general election, Warnock finished less than 1% ahead of Walker, falling just short of the 50% threshold required by state law, triggering a four-week runoff election that included at least five days of mandatory early voting last week.
Georgia is no stranger to runoff elections and this is the third time voters cast ballots in a Senate runoff election in less than two years. But the dynamics have shifted since the 2020 campaign that got Warnock elected. The state legislature passed a sweeping voting law last year that, among other changes, shortened the runoff period from nine weeks to four, causing an all-out sprint to the finish line for both candidates.
On Monday, Walker and Warnock made their closing pitches to voters in multiple campaign stops on the eve of Election Day.
(MOORE COUNTY, N.C.) — The gun attack that crippled two power substations and knocked out electricity to tens of thousands of utility customers in Moore County, North Carolina, is being investigated as a criminal act and law enforcement, including the FBI, are working around the clock to identify suspects and determine a motive behind the sabotage.
The criminal vandalism has caused major disruptions throughout the county, including the closures of public schools and prompted officials to impose a nightly curfew.
Here is a timeline of how the crisis unfolded and the race by utility crews to repair what authorities described as “millions of dollars in damages”:
Dec. 3 — Just after 7 p.m. on Saturday, Duke Energy company, the local utility provider, responded to a failure at an electrical substation near the city of Carthage, which was soon followed by the failure of a second substation, authorities said. The incident plunged roughly 45,000 utility customers into darkness as freezing temperatures set in.
Dec. 4 — Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields announces at a news conference that gunfire caused extensive damage to the two substations, describing the incident as “intentional vandalism.” On Sunday afternoon, Fields says the FBI and the state Department of Public Safety were assisting in the investigation, and notes multiple shots were fired at each substation and that a gate to one of them was rammed open. A countywide state of emergency is declared and officials announce a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be imposed. The sheriff says investigators are looking into whether the attacks are related to protests over a Downtown Divas drag show in the Moore County city of Southern Pines Saturday night, but that no evidence had been uncovered linking the two events.
Dec. 5 — Schools throughout Moore County are cancelled as Duke Energy officials say the damage to the substations is substantial and would take multiple days to replace equipment that was completely destroyed. The federal Department of Homeland Security and the White House announce they were monitoring the situation and providing federal assistance. Fields tells ABC News that the perpetrator or perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing and could face murder charges if someone dies as a result of the power outage. Gov. Roy Cooper says at a news conference that “this kind of attack raises a new level of threat” and that officials would begin working on ways to harden security to protect key infrastructure throughout the state.
Dec. 6 — Schools are cancelled for the second day following a second night in which a curfew was imposed on county residents. Duke Energy says more than 35,000 customers are still without electricity.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — San Francisco supervisors have nixed their plan to allow police officers to use robots to kill in emergency situations, a board member confirmed on Tuesday.
“The people of San Francisco have spoken loud and clear: There is no place for killer police robots in our city,” supervisor Dean Preston told ABC News in a statement. “There have been more killings at the hands of police than any other year on record nationwide. We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people.”
The news comes a day after community groups protested outside San Francisco’s City Hall condemning the ordinance, which the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved in an 8-3 vote on Nov. 29.
Before the board’s vote reversing course, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California told ABC News that it was a terrible idea to let cops use robots for deadly force.
“Allowing them to kill remotely will lead to more mistakes, and as we have seen many times before with other police weapons, to more frequent use,” ACLU NorCal said.
In a letter to Mayor London Breed and city board members, dozens of racial justice groups, civil rights and civil liberties organizations, LGBTQ organizations and labor unions called for board members to change their vote, saying the use of robots would be dangerous to not only San Francisco residents, but to people who visit the city.
“SFPD’s proposal would allow officers to send these robots to all arrests and all searches with warrants, and to protests if police decide that ‘exigent circumstances’ or other flexible justifications in the policy apply,” the organizations wrote in the letter.
The SFPD did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment about the board’s reversal, but did defend the passage of the Law Enforcement Equipment Policy in a Dec. 1 press release, saying that it only planned to deploy the robots for potential lethal force “in extreme circumstances to save or prevent further loss of life.”
“The use of robots in potentially deadly force situations is a last resort option. We live in a time when unthinkable mass violence is becoming more commonplace,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said at the time. “We need the option to be able to save lives in the event we have that type of tragedy in our city.”
(MOORE COUNTY, N.C.) — About 35,000 utility customers in a North Carolina county were bracing for a fourth night Tuesday without electricity as a search for those responsible for sabotaging two key power substations continued and crews scrambled to repair what authorities described as “millions of dollars” in damages.
The crisis in Moore County has prompted local law enforcement to call in the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to help in the probe of what has been deemed a criminal act. The White House is also closely monitoring the situation, officials said.
“This kind of attack raises a new level of threat,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Asked whether the attacks are being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism, Cooper said, “I think investigators are leaving no stone unturned as to what this is as they are looking at every motivation that could possibly occur.”
Residents throughout Moore County remained under curfew Tuesday night, as area schools were canceled through Thursday, officials said.
Moore County law enforcement said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that one person died inside a residence without power, but it remained unclear if the death is related to the electrical outage.
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields told ABC News earlier that murder charges could be filed against those responsible for the attack if anyone dies as a result of the power outage.
“What was done was an intentional act. It was not a random act,” Fields said.
Jeff Brooks, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, the local utility, said crews are working around the clock to restore energy. He said electricity has been restored to about 10,000 customers.
Brooks said crews are making good progress and now believe they can restore power to all customers by midnight Wednesday. He said about 35,000 were still without power Tuesday evening, down from 45,000 customers who initially lost power.
Freezing temperatures in the county about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh forced many residents to seek warmth and food at a shelter opened in Carthage.
“It’s better to have warmth and comfort than make sure your belongings are safe,” Gunner Scevertson, one of the residents who left his home to seek warmth at the shelter, told Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC.
Carthage business owner Rachel Haviley used her portable generator to serve up coffee and food to neighbors in need.
“My kids are home, they’re not in school. My husband was supposed to go to D.C., now he’s in daddy day care,” Haviley told WSOC. “I have a friend that was supposed to be at the hospital for class, now she’s not there. There are elderly people who rely on things that help keep them alive, so people’s lives and families have been impacted by this.”
Vandals wielding firearms are suspected of causing major damage to two electrical distribution substations, knocking out power to homes and businesses across the county, officials said.
Brooks said that while some of the damaged equipment could be repaired, other pieces had to be replaced.
The attacks occurred just after 7 p.m. Saturday, officials said.
Fields said the perpetrator or perpetrators shot up two key substations in the area, adding, they “knew exactly what they were doing.”
No arrests have been announced in the probe.
The attacks came amid protests over a Downtown Divas drag show in the Moore County city of Southern Pines. The drag show had been scheduled for Saturday night and was disrupted due to the blackout.
Fields said no evidence has yet been uncovered linking the power outage to the drag show.
(WASHINGTON) — Just three days before two electrical substations were shot up, causing tens of thousands of customers to lose power in North Carolina, the federal Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning “lone offenders and small groups” could be plotting attacks and that the nation’s critical infrastructure was among the possible targets.
The warning became a reality on Saturday when widespread power outages in North Carolina were reported after a perpetrator or perpetrators shot up the power stations in Moore County. The incident left up to 45,000 utility customers without electricity and prompted local officials to declare a state of emergency.
The Homeland Security “National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin” issued on Nov. 30 said individuals and groups motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and personal grievances “continue to pose a persistent and lethal threat to the Homeland.”
“Targets of potential violence include public gatherings, faith-based institutions, the LGBTQI+ community, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents,” the bulletin reads.
The bulletin followed one issued by the Department of Homeland Security in January, warning that domestic extremists have been developing “credible, specific plans” to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020, according to the Associated Press.
While law enforcement investigating the Moore County sabotage has yet to identify a suspect or a motive, the attack has been described by local authorities as an “eye-opener” and prompted calls to harden the state’s infrastructure to deter future incidents.
“This kind of attack raises a new level of threat,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
But similar attacks and foiled plots suggest electrical grids and other infrastructure across the United States have been targeted over the past decade.
In April 2013, a group of suspects wielding high-powered rifles staged an attack in California’s Silicon Valley, shooting up the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s Metcalf substation, riddling transformers with bullets, officials said. PG&E said the attack caused $15 million in damage and prompted the utility company to spend $100 million to beef up security at its substations, including installing intruder detection systems.
No arrests were made in the California attack.
“Metcalf was an interesting attack because they also attacked the fiber communications vault just up the street to try to interfere with the alarm and communication with the substation,” Kevin Perry, retired director of critical infrastructure protection at Southwest Power Pool in Arkansas, told ABC News.
Unlike in Moore County, the attack failed to cause a major power outage.
“There’s a lot of redundancy that’s built into the grid. And in the case of Metcalf, even though the substation was taken out of service, (PG&E) was able to bypass the substation and continue to energize the area,” Perry said.
Perry said most electrical distribution substations across the country are vulnerable to attacks because they are usually in remote areas and have little security.
“Substations tend to be out in the middle of nowhere, and that means they’re, for the most part, unattended,” Perry said. “If you take out enough equipment then you lose the redundancy and when you lose the redundancy you don’t have any way of feeding power to that particular area, and that’s when you end up with a regional blackout.”
In February, three men each pleaded guilty in Ohio to a federal charge of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists as part of a scheme to attack power grids in the United States in furtherance of white supremacist ideology, according to the Department of Justice. The men – one from Ohio, one from Texas and the third from Wisconsin — met online and plotted to use high-powered rifles to attack electrical substations in different regions of the United States, the DOJ said in a statement.
“The defendants believed their plan would cost the government millions of dollars and cause unrest for Americans in the region. They had conversations about how the possibility of the power being out for many months could cause war, even a race war, and induce the next Great Depression,” the DOJ’s statement reads.
The plot was thwarted when two of the men were pulled over by police in Ohio for a traffic violation and one swallowed a “suicide pill” but ultimately survived, according to federal prosecutors.
In 2019, a Utah man pleaded guilty to one federal count of destruction of an energy facility stemming from a 2016 rifle attack on a Buckskin Electrical substation in Kane County and was sentenced to 96 months in prison, according to federal officials. The attack caused nearly $400,000 in damage and triggered a power outage in Kane and Garfield counties, officials said.
As part of the plea agreement, the defendant admitted causing damage to three substations in Nevada, but was not charged in those incidents, according to federal prosecutors.
Justin Ide / forThe Washington Post via Getty Images
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) — Three University of Virginia football players killed in a mass shooting on the Charlottesville campus have been honored with posthumous degrees from the university.
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were fatally shot on the night of Nov. 13 while on a bus that had just returned from a class trip to see a play in Washington, D.C. Two other students were injured in the incident. The suspected gunman, also a student, was arrested.
Chandler was a second-year student majoring in American studies. American studies professor Jack Hamilton tweeted that he helped Chandler declare his major, “which he was really excited about.”
“He was an unbelievably nice person, always a huge smile, really gregarious and funny,” Hamilton tweeted. “It is so sad and enraging that he is gone.”
Davis, a third-year student, majored in African American and African studies, according to UVA.
In a university video last year, Davis said he loved movies, reading Shakespeare and the Bible.
Davis called UVA the “perfect place for anyone who wants to work hard and be great.”
UVA president Jim Ryan and athletics director Carla Williams were among the university officials who attended the funerals in each of the player’s hometowns.
Williams said, after talking with Davis’ family at his funeral, “it became obvious” “why earning his degree from the University of Virginia was so important to” him. “He worked extremely hard for it,” Williams said in a statement Monday.
Perry, a fourth-year student, double majored in studio art and African American and African studies, according to the university.
Perry was “very, very, very artistic” and loved music, head coach Tony Elliott said at a news conference last month. He had a “sense of humor that was one of a kind,” Elliott said.
The diplomas have been presented to the slain students’ families.
ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson and Arthur Jones contributed to this report.
