(Jewish Group) Raphael Warnock, buoyed by Jewish vote, defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate run

Raphael Warnock, buoyed by Jewish vote, defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate runoff

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff, giving the Democratic Party an outright 51-49 Senate majority.

Warnock, who will now serve a full six-year term in the Senate after winning the 2020 special election, won in a race where the Peach State’s local Jewish population proved consequential, given how disproportionately local Jews vote compared to the makeup of the general population.

Both candidates and national Jewish organizations invested significant manpower and financial resources into corralling Georgia’s 100,000 registered Jewish voters (36,000 of whom identify as Democrats and a further 50,000 as independents), highlighting the importance of the Black-Jewish alliance that helped propel Warnock and fellow Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff to victory in 2020.

After averting defeat for one month thanks to Georgia’s electoral system, Walker now meets the fate of many Donald Trump-endorsed candidates deemed too extreme by the electorate. The race was among the most highly monitored during the midterms cycle due to controversies related to Walker’s personal life and the apparent lack of impact these had on his electoral prospects as the Republicans unsuccessfully sought to flip the Senate.

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