The Latest: Ossoff claims a win, but race too early to call

 

Looks like honest counting to me, AGAIN ;-)

The Latest on the Senate runoffs in Georgia (all times local):

8:40 a.m.

U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff is claiming victory in his race against Republican David Perdue, thanking Georgians for “electing me to serve you.”

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race between Ossoff and Perdue, which is too early to call.

Ossoff made the comments early Wednesday in a speech on social media. He said the campaign has been about health, jobs and justice for Georgians.

He added that he intends to serve all people in the state.

Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections will decide control of the U.S. Senate. In the other race, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA SENATE ELECTIONS

Georgia’s two Senate runoff elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Republican Kelly Loeffler lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock, while Republican David Perdue was challenged by Democrat Jon Ossoff. Democrats must win both seats to take control of the Senate.

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:

8 a.m.

Hours after winning one of Georgia’s high-stakes runoffs, The Rev. Raphael Warnock says people in his state “are feeling a sense of hope this morning.”

Speaking in a round of morning television interviews, Warnock noted that he grew up in public housing as one of 12 children and was the first in his family to attend college. He said his victory “pushes against the grain of so many expectations, but this is America and I want some young person who’s watching this to know anything’s possible.”

Georgia is now in “an incredible place when you think of the arc of our history,” he said.

“This is the reversal of the old southern strategy that sought to divide people,” Warnock said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “In this moment we’ve got to bring people together to do the hard work and I look forward to doing that.”

He told NBC’s “Today” that “we can ill-afford to be divided. And I hope to be the pastor among peers in the United States Senate to appeal to the better angels of our nature and to remind us that Dr. King was right, we’re tied of a single garment of destiny.”

Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler. The other race for U.S. Senate in Georgia — that one between incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff — remained too early to call early Wednesday.

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2:25 a.m.

The race for U.S. Senate in Georgia between incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff is too early to call.

As of 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, Ossoff had a lead of 9,527 votes out of nearly 4.4 million counted, or a margin of less than 0.2 percentage points.

There were still some mail ballots and in-person early votes left to be counted statewide, the majority of which are in Democratic-leaning counties.

Under Georgia law, a trailing candidate may request a recount when the margin of an election is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage points.

The Perdue-Ossoff race was one of two runoff elections that Georgia held Tuesday. In the other election, Democrat Raphael Warnock unseated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

The races will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Democrats must win both seats to take power, while Republicans only need one to keep Mitch McConnell as majority leader.

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2 a.m.

Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock has won his Senate runoff election.

Warnock, who served as pastor for the same Atlanta church where slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. grew up and preached, becomes the first Black senator elected in Georgia.

The Tuesday victory gives Democrats a chance to seize control of the Senate for the opening of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Democrats need to win both of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections to claim the Senate majority. The contest between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue remains too early to call.

Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate less than a year ago and had the strong support of outgoing President Donald Trump.

The Republican president on the eve of the election called on Georgia Republicans to swarm to the polls for the Republican Senate candidates, even as he warned without evidence of the prospect of widespread voter fraud.

Biden held his own rally Monday to urge his coalition to turn out for the Democratic candidates.