Democrat Raphael Warnock projects victory in U.S. Senate race

ATLANTA – Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock has claimed victory in defeating Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff election, The Associated Press and other media outlets reported.

Making history, Warnock became the first Black Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from the South. Warnock announced his win in Georgia’s U.S. Senate special election runoff race in a virtual address shortly after midnight. Loeffler, however, has not conceded.

Warnock was leading by more than 40,00 votes with 99% of precincts reporting that he had 2,220,300 (51 percent). Loeffler had 2,173,749 (49%).

“I promise this to you tonight, I am going to the Senate to work for all of Georgia,” Warnock said in the virtual address.

Meanwhile, in DeKalb County, one of the main battle grounds for the historic U.S. Senate race, county elections officials said ballots were still being tabulated. Erica Hamilton, Director of DeKalb County Voter Registration andElections, released the following statement at 1:44 a.m.:

“Due to technical issues, the remaining 19,000 ballots must be manually scanned in order to be tabulated and added to the total vote count. Georgia’s voting system provides built-in safeguards, in the form of paper ballots  that allow us to quickly process ballots that are electronically cast. These outstanding paper ballots are currently being scanned and the tabulation will be completed as quickly as possible and in compliance with state guidelines.”