Why Warnock's seat means so much to Senate Democrats

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/07/ [login to see] /why-warnocks-seat-means-so-much-to-senate-democrats
Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock's win in the Georgia Senate runoff could have far-reaching consequences legislatively and politically for Democrats.

"The truth is it's not a 1% difference," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said earlier this week. "It's a world of difference."

Warnock's victory over former NFL and University of Georgia star Herschel Walker came after a shortened four-week runoff following a hotly contested election. Neither candidate got more than 50%, which pushed the race to a runoff.

Between the general election and the runoff, this race was the most expensive of the 2022 election cycle with some $425 million spent between the campaigns and outside groups supporting them.

Even though the result only expands the Democratic majority by one, from 50-50 to 51-49, party leadership and interest groups spent the kind of money they did because they clearly saw it as critically important.