Warnock declares victory in Georgia Senate runoff as race remains too close to call

Democrat Raphael Warnock declared victory in his runoff election against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) early Wednesday morning, as incoming vote tallies painted an increasingly optimistic picture for Democratic efforts to win control of the Senate.

“We were told that we couldn’t win this election, but tonight we proved that with hope, hard work and the people by our side, anything is possible,” Warnock said.

“So Georgia, I am honored by the faith that you have shown in me and I promise you this tonight: I am going to the Senate to work for all of Georgia, no matter who you cast your vote for in this election,” he said.

NEW: Rev. Raphael Warnock on his mother: “The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator.” https://t.co/QY4Ywp3OZx pic.twitter.com/XmuQcTfBWm

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The outcome of the race between Warnock and Loeffler — one of two Senate runoffs that took place on Tuesday — hasn’t been called yet and as Warnock spoke he led Loeffler by less than 1 percentage point.

But heading into Wednesday morning, the outlook appeared positive for Warnock, who is expected to benefit from incoming vote counts out of Atlanta and its suburbs. 

Those votes are expected to heavily favor both Warnock and Democrat Jon Ossoff, who is challenging Republican David Perdue in a separate runoff election.

The election is not yet decided. Despite the dimming outlook for Republicans, Loeffler said early Wednesday that she has no plans to concede the race, insisting that she still has “a path to victory.”

“It’s worth it for this election to last into tomorrow,” Loeffler told supporters. “We’re going to make sure that every vote is counted … every legal vote is going to be counted.”

In Georgia’s other Senate runoff, Perdue and Ossoff are running neck-and-neck. But like Warnock, Ossoff appears poised to benefit from remaining votes in the heavily Democratic area around Atlanta. 

On the line in the two runoffs is control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold a 50-to-48 seat advantage in the upper chamber. If both Warnock and Ossoff win their respective races, however, it would give Democrats a divided Senate in which Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cast the tie-breaking vote.