Georgia in flux: Two Senate races head to runoff; presidential race will have a recount
Georgia is about to be ground zero for the battle for the Senate.
Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff are headed to a runoff election in January after neither earned 50% of the vote.
The state's other Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, also is headed to a runoff.
The two races will likely determine what party controls the majority in the Senate.
The presidential race in Georgia also is up in the air.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said Friday morning the state would have a recount because of the slim election margin.
“Right now, Georgia remains too close to call,” he said. “There will be a recount.”
Under Georgia state law, candidates can request a recount if the margin of victory is less than 0.5%. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gained a small lead over President Donald Trump early Friday morning. About 4,400 votes separate the two candidates.
“We are literally looking at a margin of less than a large high school,” said Georgia’s voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling.
The state had about 4,169 votes left to count, according to Sterling. A recount could take until the end of the month, he noted. The state pays for recounts in Georgia.
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Trump and his allies, without evidence, have alleged election fraud, but Sterling rejected the claims.
“We’re not seeing any widespread irregularities,” he said.