GOP’s Loeffler Concedes To Warnock In Georgia Runoff
Jan 7, 2021, 4:32 PM | Updated: 4:47 pm
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) arrives for the Electoral College vote certification for President-elect Joe Biden, during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
ATLANTA (AP) — Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Thursday conceded to Democrat Raphael Warnock in one of two Georgia Senate runoffs that will give control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats.
Loeffler, who was appointed to the position a year ago to replace outgoing Sen. Johnny Isakson, posted a video to social media Thursday evening saying that she had called Warnock to congratulate him.
With his victory in Tuesday’s election, Warnock becomes the first African American from Georgia elected to the Senate.
“Unfortunately we came up slightly short in the runoff election,” Loeffler says in the video, “Earlier today I called Rev. Warnock to congratulate him and to wish him well in serving this great state.”
A spokesman for Warnock’s campaign confirmed that Loeffler had conceded but declined to comment further.
Democrat Jon Ossoff beat Republican David Perdue in Georgia’s other Senate runoff. Perdue has yet to concede. In a statement released early Wednesday, his campaign vowed to “mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse.”
The two Democrats’ wins, along with President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia in November, mark a huge shift in Georgia politics, which have been dominated by Republicans in recent years. Biden is the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992.
Tuesday’s runoff election broke turnout records for a Georgia runoff, with more than 4.4 million ballots cast.
