Democrat Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff election | US Midterm Elections 2022 News

Incumbent Democratic senator beats Trump-pick Herschel Walker in crucial runoff election in US state of Georgia.

Democratic US Senator Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election, according to the Associated Press news agency, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden’s term.

With Warnock’s runoff victory on Tuesday, Democrats will have a 51-49 Senate majority, gaining a seat from the current 50-50 split with John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania.

There will be divided government, however, with Republicans having narrowly flipped control of the House of Representatives.

In last month’s election, Warnock led Walker by 37,000 votes out of almost 4 million cast, but fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

Walker, a football legend who was backed by former US President Donald Trump, was unable to overcome a bevy of damaging allegations, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends’ abortions.