ELECTION 2022: Latest updates from News 12

Latest election results from Georgia, South Carolina, across the U.S.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - As Georgia and South Carolina voters make their choice in a historic election, News 12 is bringing you coverage throughout the day and night.

Watch the live stream above, and keep checking back for the latest developments here.

6:45 p.m.: Kemp re-elected as Georgia’s governor: What to expect in his next term

Re-elected Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is giving a hint of what we can expect in the years ahead. “As you all know, we did not get distracted on this hard-fought campaign. Just like we have stayed focused in my first term. We woke up every single day talking about how to build a safer, stronger Georgia for you and your family,” Kemp told supporters.

3:52 p.m. Who is Chase Oliver, the man who forced Ga. Senate runoff?

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. But Libertarian Chase Oliver was also there. Who is this man who pulled 2% of the votes, making him the spoiler? It appears he likely kept neither nor Warnock from getting the definitive 50% they needed to claim the seat, sending them into a Dec. 6 runoff.

2:15 p.m.: Elections chief says Warnock, Walker will be in a runoff

Georgia Secretary of State Bread Raffensperger said Tuesday afternoon there will be a runoff between Sen Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker. With only 10,000 votes still out and neither candidate at the definitive 50% level needed to claim the seat outright, he said: “Yes, there will be a runoff.” He said the ballots are already being put together and counties are making plans for the runoff. Raffensperger spoke in a news conference that began shortly after 2 p.m. at the state Capitol.

11:44 a.m.: Incumbent Aiken County school board member leading with 55%

As of midday Wednesday, incumbent Aiken County Board of Education member Brian Silas held 55% of the votes, fighting back two challengers. With 91% of the votes counted, Silas had 1,626 votes compared to 716. 24%, for Leona Guyton and 623, 21%, for Connie Jean Rendleman.

9:42 a.m.: Democrat concedes in Ga. attorney general race

State Sen. Jen Jordan conceded the race for Georgia attorney general after challenging incumbent Chris Carr. “It has been my greatest honor to be Georgia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general. Although this chapter has come to an end, the fight for a safer, more equitable Georgia continues,” Jordan said in a statement. “My decision to run for attorney general was never about me, but about serving and protecting the people of this state.” She said that although “we may not have received the results we were hoping for last night, but the work is far from over. It is now more important than ever that we continue to support and elect leaders who will prioritize the health and safety of Georgia families. Leaders who will stand up for women and defend our right to make the most personal decisions about our own bodies. Leaders who will reject partisan political agendas and put people first.” As of Wednesday morning, Jordan had earned 1,805,886 votes, 46.51%, to Carr’s 51.96%, narrowly avoiding a runoff.

8:20 a.m.: Warnock, Walker still locked in tight race in Georgia; runoff possible

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker remain locked in a tight race in Georgia as elections officials continue to count ballots in the state that determined partisan control of the Senate nearly two years ago and could do so again in these midterm elections. The question is whether either contender can win the contest outright or they head to a Dec. 6 runoff. Georgia requires a majority to win statewide office, and with incomplete returns showing a close race with a third-party candidate on the ballot, it remained possible that neither Warnock nor Walker will surpass the 50% threshold. It’s still too early to call the race.

8:15 a.m.: Democrats show surprising strength; control of Congress unclear

Control of Congress hung in the balance Wednesday as Democrats showed surprising strength, defeating Republicans in a series of competitive races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings would drag the party down. Democrat John Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate seat that’s key to the party’s hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. It was too early to call critical Senate seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona that could determine the majority. In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many districts in states like New York and California had not been called. Democrats also were successful in governors’ races, winning in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — battlegrounds critical to Biden’s 2020 win over Donald Trump. But Republicans held on to governors’ mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.

8 a.m.: Johnson wins Richmond County tax commissioner race

Voters decided to keep Chris Johnson as Richmond County tax commissioner. Appointed to the position after Steven Kendrick resigned to run for Augusta mayor, Johnson won the position Tuesday, fighting off challengers Veronica Freeman Brown and Sanford Loyd. With 99% of the votes counted, Johnson got 43,091 votes vs. 13,114 for Brown and 3,925 for Loyd.

Here are results of some other area races at the local level:

Burke County Commission District 4: Tommy Nix (R) 963, 62%; Clinton Bates (D) 583, 38%
Jefferson County Commission District 4: William Toulson Jr. (D) 479, 34%; Jerry Taylor (D) 431, 31%; Joseph Wheeler (D) 340, 24%; Corey Forrest (D) 143, 10%
McDuffie County Commission District 1B: Frederick Favors (D) 2,096, 65%; Russell Farmer (I) 1,119, 35%
Richmond County Brier Creek Water & Soil Conservation: Charlie Byrd, 45,168, 81%; Dan Scott, 10,264, 19%
Screven County Commission District 1: Edwin Lovett (D) 361, 50%; Tyler Thompson (R) 354, 50%
Screven County Commission District 7, Benjamin Thompson (R) 371, 63%; Chris Nasworthy (D) 218, 37%

3:27 a.m.: Ellen Weaver elected as South Carolina superintendent of education

Republican Ellen Weaver won the election for South Carolina Superintendent of Education Wednesday morning, fighting off Democrat Lisa Ellis.

1:27 a.m.: Warnock, Walker possibly headed to a runoff in Senate race

Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker appear headed to a Dec. 6 runoff in a race that could impact the balance of power in the nation’s capital.

There was no answer early Wednesday, as the race was too close to call.

11:58 p.m.: Rick Allen re-elected to congressional seat

Republican Rep. Rick Allen won re-election Tuesday to U.S. House in Georgia’s 12th Congressional District, fighting off a challenge from Elizabeth Johnson, of Bulloch County. Allen, R-Augusta, was elected to Congress in 2014 after spending his career starting and building his own business, the construction company R.W. Allen & Associates. Democrat Johnson is also a business owner.

11:44 p.m.: Abrams concedes to Kemp, something she never did in first race

Stacey Abrams has called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to concede in their rematch, a race that garnered national attention.

11:25 p.m.: Kemp re-elected in rematch against Abrams for Georgia governor

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp won re-election Tuesday against Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in a rematch of the state’s last governor’s race. Kemp, who was a developer before serving as a state senator and secretary of state, clinched another term despite attacks from former President Donald Trump that threatened to snuff out support in his own party. Abrams, a lawyer whose 2018 loss to Kemp helped launch her into Democratic stardom, would have been the first Black woman to serve as a governor if she had won.

10:25 p.m.: Incumbents get top votes for Richmond County school board

Incumbents Venus Cain and Charlie Walker were re-elected to the Richmond County Board of Education, while Charlie Hannah may be headed into a runoff. While Hannah got the most votes in his race, he didn’t win a decisive 50%.

9:02 p.m.: Republican S.C. Congressman Rep. Joe Wilson wins re-election

Republican Joe Wilson has won re-election to U.S. House in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. Also re-elected to his South Carolina seat was Rep. Jim Clyburn.

8:52 p.m.: McMaster wins re-election as S.C. governor

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was re-elected Tuesday. McMaster was running against Democrat Joe Cunningham, who has repeatedly highlighted the 35-year age gap with his opponent — and how he might be the only person who can stop any attempts to further restrict abortion in the state.

8:42 p.m.: Rubio re-elected in Florida as GOP eager to take Congress

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has won a third term, defeating U.S. Rep. Val Demings and holding a key seat as the GOP tried to regain control of a closely divided Senate. Eager to claw back power in Congress, energized Republicans are working to break the Democrats’ one-party hold on Washington and threaten the future of President Joe Biden’s once-lofty agenda.

8:30 p.m. Nikema Williams wins re-election to Atlanta House District

U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams won re-election to Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in urban Atlanta, Democrat David Scott won re-election to U.S. House in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, and Republican Andrew Clyde won re-election in Georgia’s 9th Congressional District. Williams, the incumbent in a heavily Democratic district, defeated Republican Christian Zimm in the state’s 2022 midterm elections. The district was represented by the late John Lewis for more than three decades. After Lewis died in 2020, Williams was selected to replace him on the November 2020 ballot. Williams, who also chairs the Georgia Democratic Party, represents a district that includes almost three-fourths of Atlanta. She was a member of the state Senate for the 39th District before her congressional campaign.

8:13 p.m.: Watch the votes come in on interactive maps

We have a new way of helping you visualize the election results from across the two-state region, thanks to The Associated Press. Interactive maps let you see the results come in and track the voting patterns across Georgia and South Carolina. You’ll find the Georgia map at https://www.wrdw.com/page/ap-interactive-map-georgia and the South Carolina map at https://www.wrdw.com/page/ap-interactive-map-south-carolina.

7:22 p.m.: Tim Scott heading back to U.S. Senate as bigger ambitions loom

The Associated Press called the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina for Tim Scott, running for what he said will be his last term. But the only Black Republican in the Senate may have bigger political ambitions yet. Scott beat Democratic state Rep. Krystle Matthews for a second full term. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2013 by then Gov. Nikki Haley when Jim DeMint resigned and also won a special election.

6:39 p.m.: Ballots sent to absentee voters who didn’t get them

When 7 p.m. rolls around, it won’t be the deadline for some Georgia absentee voters to turn in their ballots. A judge signed an order Monday that extended the deadline for when about 1,000 Cobb County voters’ absentee ballots could be returned. This comes after the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit asked to send ballots overnight to hundreds of voters who still need their absentee ballots and move the deadline from 7 p.m. on Election Day to Nov. 14, which is the same deadline for absentee voters in the military and overseas.

6:20 p.m.: Delays lead to extended polling hours for some sites

Several precincts in Georgia had some delays over the course of Election Day. In order to give voters a full 12 hours, voting was being extended beyond 7 p.m. at those locations, which included two Kennesaw precincts, Solid Rock AME Church in DeKalb County, and two Cobb County voting precincts.

6 p.m.: Long waits not reported in Georgia

Gabe Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, tweeted over the course of the day that most polling locations have had “zero wait.” Average statewide wait times are two minutes, and “counties are still processing voters in about 49 seconds.” He said the longest waiting time in Georgia was 10 minutes in Union City.

4:15 p.m.: Warnock, Walker push for outright Senate victory in Georgia

Georgia voters are ready to settle one of the nation’s marquee midterm contests as they choose whether to reelect Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock to his first full term or replace him with Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Yet the state’s quirky election law means Tuesday could be just Round 1. Georgia requires a majority to win statewide office, and with polls suggesting a close race and a third-party candidate on the ballot, it’s possible neither Warnock nor Walker will surpass the 50% threshold. That would set up a four-week blitz ahead of a Dec. 6 runoff

2 p.m.: AU expert explains the power of Georgia voters

1:15 p.m.: In rematch, Abrams outraises Kemp in campaign funds

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams are facing off in a rematch of the state’s last governor’s race. Abrams, 48, would be the first Black woman governor if she won. Kemp, 59, could clinch another term after attacks from Donald Trump. Abrams raised $85 million through Sept. 30, while Kemp raised $60 million.

1 p.m.: All eyes are on Georgia once again

11:20 a.m.: Georgia and South Carolina voters head to the polls

10 a.m.: Poll workers removed in Fulton County because of social media posts

Two poll workers, a mother and son, were removed from a Fulton County voting site shortly before polls opened. Officials say that a “peer” of the female poll worker reported comments made by the woman during a poll worker event and on social media. Officials looked into the report and contacted the secretary of state with their concerns. The secretary of state reportedly agreed with their concern and officials decided to remove the woman and her son, both of whom were poll workers in Johns Creek.

9:06 a.m.: Polling site suffers a snag in Jackson

A poll location in Jackson, S.C., is back open after a slowed delay Tuesday morning due to big crowds. The location is at Jackson Town Hall in the 100 block of Main Street. A poll worker said they had technical difficulties, but everything was back up and running around 9 a.m.