Last Tuesday, in one of the most important elections for Senate control during the 2022 midterm elections, incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock won against Republican challenger Herschel Walker. It was a runoff election from the original Nov. 8 election date, which saw neither candidate earn more than 50 percent of the vote. According to Georgia’s state election rules, this pushed the two candidates into the Dec. 6 runoff election.

Once again, the runoff results were very close. However, Warnock took the slight edge later in the evening and finished with 51.4 percent of the vote.

Warnock performed much better in the runoff, especially within Republican counties where he saw slight bumps to his percentage of votes. One issue for Walker was the absence of Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp from this ballot following his Nov. 8 win over Democrat Stacey Abrams. When Kemp was on the ballot, it helped carry votes along party lines to Walker in the original election.

The win gives the Democrats control of the Senate 51-49 once again, keeping Vice President Kamala Harris from having to become a tie-breaking vote.

The Georgia election also became highly publicized because of Walker, the former Heisman Trophy winning running back and one of the greatest college football players of all time. Since entering into the political world, Walker has drawn the support of former President Donald J. Trump, adopting many similar policies. Despite some glaring character flaws, including allegedly paying for a partner to have an abortion despite being strictly anti-abortion, he garnered support from the GOP.

Walker also had many questionable statements when speaking on public record, including saying that the late Rep. John Lewis, a notable figure in Civil Rights activism and legislation, would not be in favor of the voting rights legislation written in his name. Another was when he claimed to have worked as a police officer, something for which there is no record of.

Following a relatively weak showing in the midterm elections for Republicans, especially Trump-supported Republicans, the loss in Georgia comes as yet another blow. While the Republicans did retake control of the House of Representatives, it was with less support at the voting polls than was anticipated.