ATLANTA — With more than 95 percent of the expected vote now counted, the two Georgia Senate races are too close to call, NBC News projects, in Tuesday’s critical runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate and potentially the fate of Joe Biden’s incoming presidency.
Both races are neck-and-neck at 11:30 p.m. E.T. with fewer than 30,000 votes and less than a percentage point separating the candidates. Officials warned it may take until Wednesday, or longer, for winners to be determined if the races are especially tight.
In some rural areas where the GOP needs to run up the score and counting was completed rapidly, Republican turnout appeared down slightly more than Democratic turnout compared to the November general election.
Meanwhile, turnout appears higher in some Democratic-leaning areas. The chairman of the board of elections in Fulton County, which includes most of heavily-Democratic Atlanta, told reporters in a virtual briefing that Election Day turnout surpassed the November election.
But the contests remain tight, with some operatives already eyeing state election rules that allow a candidate to request a recount if the margin is less than or equal to half a percentage point.
Gabriel Sterling, a top election official in Georgia, predicted in a press conference Tuesday evening that it would be a “long night.”
“Its going to be a nickel and dime, scratching and clawing over the next several hours as these continue to come in,” Sterling said. “There’s big tranches for Democrats and there’s lots of little tranches of votes for Republicans.”
In an unusual arrangement, the state is conducting runoffs in two Senate seats at the same time.
The twin runoff elections, between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Sen. David Perdue for one seat and Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Kelly Loeffler for the other, have shattered spending records with the campaigns and allied super PACs inundating voters with more than half a billion dollars worth of advertising in the two months since the November general election.
To gain control, Democrats need to win both seats, which would then split the chamber 50-50 and let Vice President-elect Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. Republicans need to win just one seat to keep the Senate and a major check on Biden.
Officials reported short lines and no major problems throughout Election Day after more than 3 million Georgians took advantage of early voting.
President Donald Trump, who held a rally for the GOP ticket in a conservative corner of the state Monday night, has not stopped trying to overturn his loss in the November election, and those attempts have overshadowed the runoffs. Some Republicans worry his attacks on Georgia election officials will depress GOP turnout.
Three quarters of Georgia Republicans think the 2020 presidential election was unfair, while 93 percent of Democrats say it was fair, according to NBC News exit polls.
Perdue and Loeffler have tried to strike an uneasy balance, on one hand validating Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud while on the other encouraging their voters to participate in the runoffs.
“This generational election will be decided by the votes cast in the next few hours – no one should be sitting on the sidelines,” the Republicans said in a joint statement Tuesday.
Sahil Kapur and Lauren Egan reported from Atlanta. Alex Seitz-Wald reported from Washington.
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January 06, 2021 at 06:31AM
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Georgia Senate race results: Too close to call who will control the Senate, NBC News projects - NBC News
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