Raphael Warnock defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate race

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Raphael Warnock defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate race
The Democratic senator won his re-election bid against Walker, the scandal-plagued, Trump-backed political neophyte.
Dec. 6, 2022, 10:21 PM EST

By Ja'han Jones

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican Herschel Walker in his bid for re-election, NBC News has projected. The victory earns a six-year term for Warnock, grants Democrats a 51-49 edge in the Senate, and brings an end to Walker’s tortured run for office.

Ahead of Tuesday's runoff, Warnock's campaign relied on an extensive get-out-the-vote effort involving activist groups and more than 900 staffers — hundreds more than they had on staff ahead of the general election in November.

Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, largely let Walker’s often incoherent words speak for themselves, a strategy that in the end benefited him greatly. Walker's rambling speeches became prime campaign material for Warnock and his surrogates.

Walker, a former NFL running back-turned-right-wing cheerleader, struggled to express intelligible political thoughts. Knowing he was bound to have problems, early on, his campaign plotted ways for him to smile, shake hands and wave at public events while providing minimal quotes. But controversies swirled around his campaign whether he was in or out of the public eye. 

The most notable ones concerned allegations from two ex-partners that he encouraged them to get abortions.

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