Who is Chase Oliver, the man who forced Ga. Senate runoff?

ATLANTA (WRDW/WAGT) - For almost a year, incumbent Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker were the faces that came to mind for Georgia’s U.S. Senate race.

However, they weren’t the only names Georgia voters saw on the ballot. Libertarian Chase Oliver was also challenging Warnock for his seat in Washington.

Oliver, who pulled 2% of the votes, may have been the spoiler who kept neither nor Warnock from getting the definitive 50% they needed to claim the seat, sending them into a Dec. 6 runoff.

We had the chance to talk to Oliver ahead of Election Day.

He said if he didn’t have a chance of winning, he had a role in the election.

“The goal is to help the people understand we need more choices and more voices in our political discourse. We still have a democracy that’s very representative and allows for more than two choices,” said Oliver.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a middleman but more of a third way. I’m something that hasn’t been seen in the United States Senate before, and I think if we had something new, we might actually shake up the institution and get some things done,” he said.

Either way, it was an important election, and it’s not over yet.

“No matter who you are or what the polls say, you really need to take the time to show up and actually vote,” Augusta University political science professor Mary-Kate Lizotte said. “This election, like any other midterm or presidential election, it’s going to influence your daily life.”

Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.