Polls CLOSE in Georgia: Wait begins for results in race between Walker, Warnock trends now
Georgia's polls closed at 7 p.m. EST as the state's voters will decide the fate of the final Senate seat in the 2022 midterm races.
The race pit incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock against the Trump-backed Republican, Herschel Walker and will determine whether the Democrats win an outright majority in the upper chamber, or will continue to need the assistance of Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaker vote.
If Warnock wins, Democrats will also gain a majority on Senate committees.
The current 50-50 makeup means that committees have equal members of each party, making it more difficult for legislation to pass through.
Journalists on the ground, including from The New York Times, reported that few voters encountered long Election Day lines, while in the Atlanta area some voters who voted early waited for more than two hours.
Gabrielle Sterling, the chief operating officer in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State, tweeted around noon that the average wait time for voters statewide was three minutes, with the longest recorded being 32 minutes in Cherokee County.
At around 4 p.m., the state was averaging a one-minute wait time, Sterling later tweeted.
A voter casts a ballot in-person during Tuesday's Senate runoff race in Georgia. Republicans are banking on good turnout today, as the early vote tends to boost Democratic candidates
Republican candidate Herschel Walker poses for a picture with a supporter at the Marietta Diner, where he made an Election Day stop Tuesday
A supporter takes a selfie with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who's hoping to win a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate Tuesday
During campaign trail appearances Tuesday, Warnock and Walker had fighting words about one another.
'Right now, I'll put my character against Raphael Warnock any day,' Walker said at an Election Day campaign stop at the Marietta Diner in Marietta, Georgia, after a reporter pointed out that 'the issue of character is very important to voters.'
Walker, a Georgia football Heisman winner and ex-NFL player backed by former President Donald Trump, had a number of accusations thrown at him during his run, including that the pro-life Republican pressured girlfriends to have abortions and was abusive toward family members.
Walker denied the abortion claims and said he's been up front about previous mental health struggles.
Walker is hoping to oust Warnock from his Senate seat, keeping the Democrats at a 50-50 split, instead of a true majority, should the Democrat win. However, every single poll conducted during the runoff period has shown Warnock ahead.
Warnock gathered supporters at a canvass kick-off event in Norcross, Georgia and remarked how he had been on the ballot five times in just over two years.
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