Who won the Georgia Senate election runoff?

DURING the 2020 general election none of the candidates in Georgia’s two Senate contests earned more than 50 percent of the vote.

That forced both races to the January 5 runoff.

AP:Associated Press

An election worker sorts provisional ballots after the polls closed at the Beauty P. Baldwin Voter Registrations and Elections Building[/caption]

Who won the Georgia Senate election runoff?

By the morning of January 6, the Democrats appeared to have won one hotly contested US Senate race in Georgia and pulled ahead in a second.

This has edged them closer to control of the chamber and the power to advance Democratic President-elect Joe Biden‘s policy goals when he takes office this month.

Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, TV networks and Edison Research projected.

Meanwhile, Democrat Jon Ossoff held a narrow lead over Republican David Perdue in the other race.

EPA

Reverend Raphael Warnock claims victory in the Georgia Senate race[/caption]

What happens if the Georgia Senate race is split? 

If Democrats win both of the Senate runoff elections in Georgia, the Senate would be evenly split, 50-50, between the two major parties.

That would enable President-elect Joe Biden to enact an ambitious agenda that includes liberal priorities like raising the minimum wage, approving additional economic stimulus to combat the effects of the pandemic and expanding health care.

But Republicans need to carry only one of the seats to hold a slim 51-49 majority that could serve as a conservative bulwark to limit Biden’s ambitions.

Getty Images - Getty

The election will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate[/caption]

Who controls the Senate?

There are 100 seats in the Senate.

As it stands at the beginning of 2021, the Republican Party holds a majority with 52 seats, while the Democratic Party has 46 seats.

There are two independent senators who caucus with the party.