The Latest on the Senate runoffs in Georgia (all times local):
5:50 p.m.
Recommended Videos
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has denounced the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, calling their actions a “disgrace and quite honestly un-American.”
“It is unimaginable that we have people in our state and in our country that have been threatening police officers, breaking into government buildings,” the Republican governor said at a news conference Wednesday inside the Georgia Capitol. “This is not the Georgia way and it is not the way of our country.”
Kemp said he is extending an executive order to activate the Georgia National Guard ahead of the state’s regular legislative session, which is scheduled to begin Monday.
Kemp has repeatedly resisted demands from President Donald Trump and other Republicans to call a special session to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results. He has previously argued it would violate state law for the General Assembly to name electors instead of following the current state law that calls for the governor to certify electors after results are certified.
“For those of you that have been calling on a special session, you can now see what that would have looked like,” Kemp said Wednesday.
___
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA SENATE ELECTIONS
Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections determined which party will soon control the U.S. Senate. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock, while Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue. Democrats must win both seats to take control of the Senate.
Read more:
— A clash of two closely matched coalitions
— Georgia proves its status as a two-party battleground
— A tense night for news organizations
— The Republican Party faces a defining moment
— Trump-appointed US attorney resigns in Georgia
___
HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
4:35 p.m.
Georgia’s largest county is stopping ballot processing and tabulation for the day after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Fulton County spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt said Wednesday that tabulation in Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoffs was halted “out of an abundance of caution.”
“We have also closed all of our offices in downtown Atlanta,” Corbitt said.
The county’s elections director, Richard Barron, told the board of commissioners earlier Wednesday that the county had approximately 7,500 mail-in absentee ballots left to upload.
The Associated Press has called the runoffs for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
___
4:18 p.m.
Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff has won his Senate runoff election.
His victory gives Democrats control of the Senate for the opening of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Democrats needed to win both of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections on Tuesday to claim the Senate majority.
The 33-year-old Ossoff defeated 71-year-old Republican David Perdue, who held the seat for the past six years and had the strong support of President Donald Trump.
Trump had called on Georgia Republicans to swarm to the polls for the Republican Senate candidates even as he warned, without evidence, of the prospect of widespread voter fraud.
Biden held his own rally Monday to urge his coalition to turn out for Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist.
In the other race, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
With the two Democratic victories, the Senate will have a 50-50 seat split between the parties. But the vice president casts tie-breaking votes, and that will be Democrat Kamala Harris.
Democrats already control the House, and adding the Senate will make it more difficult for Republicans to block Biden’s agenda, along with his Cabinet picks and judicial nominations.
___
2:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump seems to be acknowledging Republicans losses in the two Senate runoff elections in Georgia even before admitting his own defeat in the state on Nov. 3.
Trump used a rally of supporters in Washington to rail against what he described as “weak Republicans.” But he singled out the two GOP senate candidates in Georgia, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, for praise. Trump said “they fought a good race, never had a shot.”
Democrat Raphael Warnock beat Loeffler on Tuesday, becoming the first Black senator in his state’s history. And Democrat Jon Ossoff is holding onto his lead over Perdue, but it’s too early to call that race. An Ossoff victory would give Democrats control of the Senate.
At the rally, Trump complained that it was a mistake for Congress to move forward with a $600 check for most Americans as part of a COVID-19 relief package, instead of his preferred $2,000 in aid.
Ossoff and Warnock emphasized in the final days of the Senate races that their victories would allow a Democrat-run Senate to provide $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans.
Trump says of the $2,000 checks: “No. 1, it’s the right thing to do, but how does that play politically? I think it’s the primary reason, one of the primary reasons,” for Tuesday’s results.
___
11:30 a.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is heralding a Democratic victory in at least one of Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoffs as part of “a resounding message,” as well as good news for his agenda.
Biden in a statement Wednesday congratulated Rev. Raphael Warnock on his “groundbreaking win” over Republican Kelly Loeffler, noting he was “hopeful” that fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff would also win his race.
Biden, the first Democrat in decades to win Georgia’s electoral votes, campaigned several times for the Senate candidates, whose performances affect his legislative agenda’s success. Ossoff’s victory would mean a 50-50 Senate split, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaking vote.
Ossoff held a small lead over Republican David Perdue as of Wednesday morning, though it was too early to call the race. Under Georgia law, a trailing candidate may request a recount when the margin of an election is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage points.
__
8:40 a.m.
Senate candidate Jon Ossoff is claiming victory in his race against Republican David Perdue, thanking Georgians for “electing me to serve you.”
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race between Ossoff and Perdue, which is too early to call.
Ossoff made the comments early Wednesday in a speech on social media. He said the campaign has been about health, jobs and justice for Georgians.
He added that he intends to serve all people in the state.
Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections will decide control of the U.S. Senate. In the other race, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler.
__
8 a.m.
Hours after winning one of Georgia’s high-stakes runoffs, Rev. Raphael Warnock says people in his state “are feeling a sense of hope this morning.”
Speaking in a round of morning television interviews, Warnock noted that he grew up in public housing as one of 12 children and was the first in his family to attend college. He said his victory “pushes against the grain of so many expectations, but this is America and I want some young person who’s watching this to know anything’s possible.”
Georgia is now in “an incredible place when you think of the arc of our history,” he said.
“This is the reversal of the old southern strategy that sought to divide people,” Warnock said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “In this moment we’ve got to bring people together to do the hard work and I look forward to doing that.”
He told NBC’s “Today” that “we can ill-afford to be divided. And I hope to be the pastor among peers in the United States Senate to appeal to the better angels of our nature and to remind us that Dr. King was right, we’re tied of a single garment of destiny.”
Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler. The other race for U.S. Senate in Georgia — that one between incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff — remained too early to call early Wednesday.
__
2:25 a.m.
The Senate race in Georgia between incumbent Republican David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff is too early to call.
As of 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, Ossoff had a lead of 9,527 votes out of nearly 4.4 million counted, or a margin of less than 0.2 percentage points.
There were still some mail ballots and in-person early votes left to be counted statewide, the majority of which are in Democratic-leaning counties.
Under Georgia law, a trailing candidate may request a recount when the margin of an election is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage points.
The Perdue-Ossoff race was one of two runoff elections that Georgia held Tuesday. In the other election, Democrat Raphael Warnock unseated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
The races will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Democrats must win both seats to take power, while Republicans only need one to keep Mitch McConnell as majority leader.
__
2 a.m.
Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock has won his Senate runoff election.
Warnock, who served as pastor for the same Atlanta church where slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. grew up and preached, becomes the first Black senator elected in Georgia.
The Tuesday victory gives Democrats a chance to seize control of the Senate for the opening of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Democrats need to win both of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections to claim the Senate majority. The contest between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue remains too early to call.
Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate less than a year ago and had the strong support of outgoing President Donald Trump.
The Republican president on the eve of the election called on Georgia Republicans to swarm to the polls for the Republican Senate candidates, even as he warned without evidence of the prospect of widespread voter fraud.
Biden held his own rally Monday to urge his coalition to turn out for the Democratic candidates.
___