The Georgia runoff election between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has had record-breaking voter turnout.
Early voting in the state’s 159 counties ended Friday. According to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, more than 1.86 million Georgians have voted early. Over 76,000 of those voters didn’t vote in the general election according to GeorgiaVotes.com. The state expects early voting turnout to reach 1.9 million after all absentee ballots are counted.
The runoff election comes after no one received 50% of the vote on Nov. 8.
In the November election, Warnock received 49.4% of the vote, while Walker received 48.5%. Both parties have been campaigning heavily ahead of Tuesday. Democrats have a 50-49 majority in the senate.
CNN polling from Nov. 25-29 shows Warnock with a slight lead over Herschel Walker. Fifty-two percent of voters have said they plan to support Warnock as opposed to 48% who say they will vote for Walker. A Nov. 26- 27 Phillips Academy poll showed Walker slightly ahead with a one-point lead over Warnock, while a Frederick Polling survey conducted from November 23- 26 showed both candidates tied at 50%.
Among early voting turnout, 56% of voters were women and 44% were men, according to NBC News polling. Fifty-five percent of early voters were white, 32% were Black, and less than 2% were Latino and Asian-American. Thirty-eight percent of early voters were above 65 years old and 30% were younger than 50 years old.
Ninety-six percent of black voters favor Warnock, similar to his 2020 special election race in which 93% of black voters supported him. Voters under 35 also favor Warnock at 74% to 25% while voters 65+ favor Walker by 26 points. Among Independents, Warnock leads Walker 52% to 48%.
While older voters, who generally skew Republican, came out for early voting, Democrats are hoping that the increase in young, Latino, and Asian American voters will give Warnock a boost before Tuesday.
According to NBC, 15.5% of early voters under 30 didn’t turn out for the general election. Additionally, 8.4% of Hispanic voters and 9.5% of Asian Americans who didn’t vote on Nov. 8 voted early in the runoff election.
“We are on the verge of victory. But I don’t want us to do the victory dance before we actually get into the end zone,” Warnock said at a rally on Saturday. “We are seeing record voter turnout all across our state. People are showing up to vote.”
Campaign funding has been a key storyline of the runoff. In a donor memo sent out on Thursday, Walker’s campaign manager Scott Paradise wrote, “Simply put, we’re being outspent 3 to 1 by Warnock, and we’re being outspent nearly 2 to 1 by outside groups. We need help.”
The memo stated that Democrats alongside Warnock have raised $92 million since Nov. 8, while Warnock and his Republican allies have raised $45 million.
“They can’t win on their policies so what they’re trying to do right now is buy this seat. But they’re not gonna buy it,” Walker said Tuesday in a Fox News interview.
In the last efforts to increase support, Warnock is holding three events on Sunday.
Walker is set to hold an event alongside Republican Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana.
It’s unclear if the record turnout for early voting will be enough for Warnock to pull off a victory.
Mark Rountree of Landmark Communications told WRDW-TV News 12 in Augusta, Georgia, that the election could come down to Tuesday’s voter turnout. He said his predictions suggest that Warnock leads Walker 55% to 45% in early voting.
