This story has been updated. 

Atlanta, GA — Sen. Raphael Warnock has done it again, winning another runoff election to secure a six-year term and defeating Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State, Warnock held a 35,677 vote lead, with 93.7% of the votes counted. Warnock’s lead is expected to widen as more votes are counted, putting the race out of reach for Walker.

Walker has conceded, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Warnock claimed victory on Tuesday evening.

Thank you, Georgia. We did it again. pic.twitter.com/jikuO5Kt8S

— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) December 7, 2022

Warnock defeated Republican incumbent senator Kelly Loeffler in 2021 in a runoff that followed the 2020 elections that saw Georgia buck recent historical trends by voting for Democrat Joe Biden over Republican Donald Trump.

Both Loeffler and Walker’s political fortunes were tied to Trump’s favor.

Warnock’s victory is due in no small part to a massive get out the vote effort spearheaded by local Democrats. Voters’ cell phones buzzed with reminders about early voting, volunteers rang doorbells, and email inboxes were jammed full of messages from the Warnock campaign.

The get out the vote message worked, resulting in record-breaking early voting turnout.

Analysts following the results noted that Walker preformed slightly worse than he did in the November midterm elections in counties he had won, a sign that pointed to a Warnock win.

Democrats now hold a 51-49 Senate majority, but Republicans hold a 221 to 213 majority in the House. While Republicans gained nine seats, their showing this year was not the “red wave” many pundits and conventional wisdom had predicted due to high inflation and historical trends.

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