Kemp holds onto governor’s seat, senate race leads to runoff

Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will run against each once again in a runoff election. (photo by Rakiyah Lenon)

By Rakiyah Lenon | Editor in chief 

Results from the 2022 midterm elections are showing victories, losses and even a few races being too close to call. 

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) won the gubernatorial race, beating Stacey Abrams (D) a second time after they first ran against each other in 2018. The percentage of votes increased from 1 percent to more than 6 percent this time around.

“I can’t tell you how honored I am to be your governor for the next four years,” Kemp said in his victory speech.

Kemp campaigned heavily on his response to issues surrounding the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also gave public educators raises during his first term and helped secure key business moves to the state. With independent voters, it may have helped him that he stood by the election results of 2020.

The U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Herschel Walker (R) will now result in a runoff after neither candidate was able to obtain more than 50 percent of the vote. The runoff will be held Dec. 6, although early voting will be allowed.

As of Nov. 10, AP reported Warnock as having 49.4 percent of the vote and Walker holding 48.5 percent. Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver obtained nearly two percent of the vote, which could have played a role in preventing Warnock and Walker from surpassing the 50 percent of the vote. 

Georgia was an area of focus for many people watching the election, as the state’s senate race could sway the political majority of Senate. 

William Hatcher, chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University and a political science professor, said this upcoming runoff echoes the previous senate race a couple of years ago. 

“Georgia will be the epic center of politics again for a few months like in 2020,” he said. “The general election campaign between Walker and Warnock was already an expensive one. Tons of money from in and outside of the state will be going to the runoff election and both candidates.” 

According to Hatcher, Georgians can expect to see a continuation of campaigning amongst both Warnock and Walker between now and election day. 

“Both candidates will continue to focus on motivating their base voters and trying to push turnout to be as close as possible to the just completed election,” he said. 

It’s hard to predict the outcome of the runoff. Hatcher said the current political climate Georgia is showing a gap between rural and urban voter when viewing results on a county-level. 

“Georgia is a very competitive state,” he said.

He added, “This is a trend that has been growing for a number of election cycles, and we see it with the election of a conservative governor and currently two liberal U.S. Senators, given that Warnock retains the seat.” 

Contact Rakiyah Lenon at rlenon@augusta.edu.