Ga. runoff one of key races in battle for power, political expert says

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - There are still two races that could decide who controls the U.S. Senate; Nevada and Georgia.

With the whole country watching the runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, we talked to a political science professor about how experts are making their predictions.

“There is still an outside chance, that this Senate election, in particular, will decide which party controls the Senate, and therefore, whether Joe Biden could advance his agenda over the next two years,” said Bernard Fraga, an associate professor of political science at Emory University.

The results are in, and while Republican Brian Kemp will get another four years, Warnock still has a chance to stay in office.

Enthusiasm for this election was high as Georgia set a record high for early voting this year. But, it still didn’t pass the total numbers brought in from 2018.

“In 2018, we saw record high turnout in the midterm. Here in Georgia, and across the country, the highest turnout in a hundred years for a non-presidential election. This year it looks like the turnout might be the same, down a little bit here in Georgia in 2018, but still, for historical standards, that’s extremely high,” he said.

Now, all eyes are on this upcoming runoff, which could be a deciding factor in the balance of power in Washington.

“It’s entirely possible that after the votes are counted in Nevada, the Democrats will already be at 50, so Raphael Warnock, if he won the runoff, would actually be the 51st vote in the Senate, with Republicans left at 49,” said Fraga.

Republicans picked up over a dozen seats in the House. For them, it’s a chance to balance out Congress. Still, Biden was optimistic about the results in his address to the nation Wednesday.

“Everywhere else across the nation, it looks like Democrats did better than anyone else thought they would,” said Fraga.

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