Georgia U.S. Senate runoff results come out Democrats consolidate control of the Senate in Congress

Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock won the runoff on December 6, 2022. (Reuters)

Georgia, USA, holds the final runoff of the midterm congressional elections on Tuesday (December 6, 2022). After counting almost all the votes, the results showed that incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock narrowly defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker by a narrow majority, thwarting the Republican Party’s efforts to seize control of the Senate. Earlier, Republicans narrowly seized control of the House of Representatives in the next Congress, which begins on Jan. 1 in the midterm elections.

In the next Senate, Democrats will hold control by 51 seats to 49, better than the current 50-50.

Former President Trump took the stage to build momentum for former American football player Walker’s candidacy for the Senate. (Reuters infographic)

Analysts say the defeat of Walker, a former American football player backed by former President Donald Trump, in Tuesday’s runoff is the latest setback in Trump’s efforts to regain the White House.

On Tuesday, Bennie Thompson, chairman of the U.S. Congressional Committee investigating the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, said the committee plans to transfer the case to the Justice Department and recommend criminal prosecution.

Also, Tuesday, a New York court convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud.

Trump himself was not on trial, but prosecutors accused him of “knowing exactly what happened.” Trump and his company’s lawyers have denied the allegation and said they would appeal Tuesday’s verdict.

Trump officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election last month. The move was seen as an attempt to get ahead of the curve and discourage other Republicans from running for the party’s nomination. But some Republicans say Trump has lost “three straight times” in three major political races over the past four years, suggesting he should not represent Republicans in the 2024 presidential election.

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In the last presidential election two years ago, Trump lost his re-election campaign, but he has never admitted defeat, saying that the election was seriously cheated and allowed Democratic opponent Joe Biden to steal the presidential throne.

The 80-year-old incumbent President Joe Biden recently said he intends to run for re-election and will make a formal decision early next year. A recent poll showed that seven-in-ten voters do not want him to run for re-election.

A similar poll said six-in-ten voters were not optimistic about Trump’s bid for the 2024 presidential election.