Opinion: The southern shepherd of the Democratic Party
CNNDec 07, 2022
On Tuesday, Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger and former NFL player Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, leaving US Pres. Biden's party with a 51-49 majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
While Warnock finished narrowly ahead of Walker in the November midterms, neither reached the majority needed, which led to this week's one-on-one runoff. Walker's loss continues the unsuccessful trend of Trump-endorsed candidates.
After an exhaustive election campaign season in Georgia, Warnock should now be considered the leader of a new generation and part of a Democratic renaissance in the southeast. Nationally, Democrats fared better than expected, and Warnock's re-election is a potential opportunity to push a center-left agenda throughout all parts of the US.
Warnock's win capped a disappointing midterm election season and a major blow to Republicans. The expected red wave in November didn't materialize — with Warnock managing to misleadingly project a centrist image, despite the reality of his liberal voting record, and skirt past Walker at the finish line.
There's a 75% chance that the GOP will control the Senate after the 2024 elections, according to the Metaculus prediction community.