Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock set for a runoff

After failing to tip the scales in Tuesday’s midterm elections, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican candidate Herschel Walker are officially set for a runoff in their fight to Trump (or not Trump) the U.S. Senate.

With Warnock at 49.4%, having earned 1,941,499 votes, and Walker at 48.5% with 1,906,246 as of Wednesday, the two will face off after four more weeks of campaigning, ramping up to December 6.

As Politico points out, the additional campaigning will “likely draw tens of millions more in campaign spending to a state that’s weathered five years of non-stop, history-making elections.”

If, during this four week stretch, Trump makes his big announcement that he will, in fact, be running for president in 2024, “there’s a chance that it turns the runoff into a referendum on Trump rather than on Warnock,” says Georgia Republican strategist Brian Robinson in a quote obtained from Politico.

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“Warnock has a successful record of posting up on Trump, which is how he got to the Senate, so he’d love to repeat that formula,” Robinson says. “It’s probably best for everyone thinking about 2024 to begin after the 2022 cycle, which isn’t over yet.”

As of now, the Senate majority hangs in the balance with only 31 out of 35 seats called.

“I’m telling you right now, I didn’t come to lose,” Walker said on Tuesday night as the votes trickled in.

“Here’s what we know, when they’re finished counting, we are going to have received more votes than my opponent,” Warnock said in his own statement, made to Twitter on Tuesday night. “And whether we need to work all night, through tomorrow, or for four more weeks, we will do what we need to and bring this home.”