The Georgia election isn’t over yet. None of the candidates running for either U.S. Senate seat received the necessary 50% of the vote. The winners of both races will be decided in runoff election on Jan. 5.
Sen. David Perdue, who is running for a second term, received 49.7% of the vote, while Democratic challenging Jon Ossoff had 48%. Libertarian Party candidate Shane Hazel earned 2.3%.
Twenty candidates, meanwhile, ran in the special election to fill Sen. Johnny Isakson’s vacant seat. Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, finished with 32.9% of the vote. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp after Isakson stepped down in 2019 for health reasons, had 25.9%.
Unofficial results show the seven Democratic candidates on the ballot as a group received 47.6 percent of the vote, while the six Republicans had 49.2%. The remaining seven candidates included candidates from the Libertarian and Green parties and independents.
“There’s a lot at stake in this runoff elections,” NFIB State Director Nathan Humphrey said. “The winners not only will steer legislation that would affect the ability of small businesses to grow and create jobs, but they’ll also determine which party controls the Senate.”
After the Nov. 3 election, the Republican Party will hold 50 seats in the Senate, while the Democrats will hold 46; the two independent senators caucus with the Democrats, effectively giving the party 48 votes.
If the Democratic candidates win Georgia’s two seats, then the Republicans and Democrats will control 50 seats each. In the event of a tie, the vice president will cast the deciding vote.
Click here to learn more about the Georgia runoff means to small businesses.
