Election Night updates: Warnock wins reelection in victory over Walker

ATLANTA, Ga. — A record number of Georgians turned out on Election Day for Georgia’s hotly contested Senate runoff race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

The race remained tight throughout the night until outstanding votes from metro Atlanta propelled Warnock into the lead. He will hang onto his Senate seat for a second term, giving Democrats an even more powerful majority.

[RELATED: Real-time election results]

Here’s the latest:

11:38 p.m.

Warnock addressed a jubilant crowd at his watch party just after 11 p.m. Tuesday, telling supporters:

“And Georgia once again – as you did in 2021 when you sent an African American man and a Jewish man to the Senate in one fell swoop - you are sending a clear message to the country about the kind of world we want for our children.”

11:00 p.m.

Herschel Walker made good on his promise to accept defeat, telling supporters that the “put up one heck of a fight” and thanking them for their support.

10:30 p.m.

ABC News is projecting that Sen. Raphael Warnock will hold onto his Senate seat and defeat Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

10:20 p.m.

Warnock now leads by around 14,000 votes with 90% of the votes tallied.

10:11 p.m.

A new batch of votes from Cobb County has brought the race back to a dead heat at 50-50. DeKalb and Fulton counties are still reporting around 60% of the vote in.

10:00 p.m.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office said approximately half a million votes have yet to be counted.

9:48 p.m.

Warnock has once again taken the lead as about 15% more votes from Fulton County are tallied.

9:41 p.m.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, speaking to supporters at Warnock’s watch party, said “We are marching on to victory tonight.” Walker is currently ahead of Warner by a miniscule margin with only 53% of heavily Democratic Fulton County votes counted.

9:33 p.m.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston is at Sen. Raphael Warnock’s headquarters, where movie director Spike Lee says Warnock will address the crowd soon.

9:27 p.m.

Warnock still maintains the lead with 77% of the votes counted. Fulton County is only reporting 53% of the votes counted while DeKalb and Cobb both have just above 60% of the votes tallied.

9:19 p.m.

A chunk of votes from DeKalb County has propelled Warnock back into the lead over Walker at 50.5% to 49.5%.

9:17 p.m.

Walker has taken the lead over Warnock 50.2% to 49.4% with 74% of the votes in. The remaining votes to be counted are largely in metro Atlanta.

9:11 p.m.

The race has once again swung back toward Walker with 71% of the vote in but both candidates remain at 50%.

9:04 p.m.

With exactly 70% of the vote in, the candidates are 50-50, with Warnock leading Walker by less than 1,000 votes.

8:56 p.m.

DeKalb County, which had been lagging, now has 41% of the vote counted, propelling Warnock back into a very slim lead.

8:45 p.m.

Walker has currently taken a lead over Warnock with around 67% of the votes in.

8:37 p.m.

With just over half of the votes in, the margin between Warnock and Walker is razor-thin with Warnock leading by only about 10,000 votes. But heavily Democratic-leaning county DeKalb is still only reporting 5% of the votes counted.

7:23 p.m.

The Secretary of State’s office said Georgia saw record Election Day turnout, and not just for a runoff race. More people voted on Election Day in today’s runoff than in the 2020 presidential election.

7:13 p.m.

More than 350,000 votes have already come in, representing 9$ of the estimated votes.

7:03 p.m.

The Fulton County Board of Elections said their goal is to be finished with counting before midnight. Advanced voting and absentee voting by mail tallies will be in my 10 p.m., officials said.

7:00 p.m.

Most polls are now closed across Georgia. We will have live updated results here.

6:21 p.m.

Election officials are now seeing more than 2,000 votes a minute in the final election push.

5:01 p.m.

Voting has been extended at one Fulton County precinct. Voters at Scott Elementary School will be able to vote until 7:20 p.m.

4 p.m.

Georgia has just hit 1 million Election Day votes.

3:56 p.m.

More than 800,000 people have voted today in the Senate runoff.

2:19 p.m.

Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling said he believes most early voting results will be in by 7:30 p.m.

2:16 p.m.

The Secretary of State’s Office says 80,000 people who participated in early voting in the runoff did not participate in the general election.

2:13 p.m.

The average wait time at polling places across Georgia is two minutes, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

“It’s voting rights at stake.” Voters prepare to brave cold temps and rain on Election Day.

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