Democrat Raphael Warnock won his first full term in the U.S. Senate Tuesday in a runoff election against former football star and Republican candidate Herschel Walker.
Warnock’s victory over Walker secures Democrats’ control of the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority and ends the party’s dependence on Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote.
“After a hard-fought campaign, or should I say campaigns, it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: the people have spoken,” Warnock said after his win.
While conceding the race, Walker urged Americans to keep believing in America and the Constitution.
“One of the things I said is when they call the race, I said those numbers don’t look like they’re going to add up,” Walker said. “I don’t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them.”
Earlier this month, Warnock painted Walker as a “pathological liar” who exaggerates both his professional and personal life. He argued Walker is “not fit” to join the United States Senate, according to The Associated Press.
“This is a man who lies about the most basic facts of his life,” Warnock said at the time. “And now he wants the rest of us … to somehow imagine now that he’s a United States senator. … Herschel Walker is not ready. He’s not ready. Not only is he not ready. He’s not fit.”
Walker rebuffed Warnock’s remarks, arguing that Warnock either “voted with Joe Biden 96% of the time” or “had no clue” what he was doing.
“He said I’m the liar. I said ‘No, Senator, you’re the liar,’” Walker said. “You went to Washington saying you’re going to represent Georgia and you decided to represent Joe Biden.”
Walker also rejected Biden’s speech warning of threats to democracy.
“Him being in Washington is the biggest threat to democracy,” Walker said of Biden. “The biggest threat to democracy is with Sen. Warnock being in Washington representing the great people of Georgia. He’s a big threat.”
