Senate flips blue as Democrat Jon Ossoff declared winner in Georgia runoff, AP says
Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old documentary filmmaker, has defeated Republican incumbent David Perdue in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff.
Democrat Raphael Warnock also won the Senate special election. Their victories in the twin runoffs flipped the U.S. Senate blue.
The Associated Press declared Ossoff the winner around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. Ossoff leads by nearly 24,900 votes, according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
A top Georgia election official told reporters Wednesday that both Warnock and Ossoff would likely gain enough votes to avoid a recount. Ossoff crossed the 0.5% recount threshold Wednesday afternoon. Ossoff currently leads the race, 2,222,133 votes (50.28%) to Perdue’s 2,197,274 (49.72%).
Ossoff declared victory in the U.S. Senate race Wednesday morning. In a video speech, Ossoff touched on the COVID-19 crisis and further economic relief in his three-minute virtual statement, and invoked the legacy of his late mentor Congressman John Lewis.
“I will serve all the people of the state. I will give everything I’ve got to ensuring that Georgia’s interests are represented in the U.S. Senate,” he said.
With his victory, Ossoff becomes Georgia’s first Jewish senator and the youngest Democrat elected to the chamber since Joe Biden in 1973. This is the first time since 2003 that both of Georgia’s U.S. Senators are Democrats.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Senate flips blue as Democrat Jon Ossoff declared winner in Georgia runoff, AP says."