Warnock wins in Georgia

Early on Wednesday, Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of Georgia’s closely watched runoff elections for the U.S. Senate. With 98 percent of the votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for Warnock as he led 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent. The other race remained too close to call, with Democrat Jon Ossoff leading Republican Sen. David Perdue by a tight 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent.

What is the national impact? If Democrats win both races, the Senate will be split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Vice President-elect Harris’ tie breaking vote would then give Democrats control of the Senate. Winning the Senate would give Democrats control of both chambers of Congress as Joe Biden becomes president later this month.

Dig deeper: Read Jamie Dean’s report on finding safe harbor in political turbulence.