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EXPLAINER: How Democrats won Georgia's 2 Senate runoffs

Election 2020 Georgia Senate
Posted at 2:15 PM, Jan 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-06 17:15:46-05

The E.W. Scripps Company is a partner with The Associated Press and has been following guidance from their election desk on 2020 race updates.

The Associated Press on Wednesday declared Democrat Jon Ossoff the winner of his U.S. Senate runoff election, the second such seat captured by the party in twin contests that were held in Georgia on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the AP declared Democrat Raphael Warnock the winner of the other race.

The two victories will give Democrats control of the Senate for the next two years.

According to The AP, the lead for Ossoff was by about 25,000 votes. 4.4 million votes had been casted when the AP called the race.

After analyzing the outstanding ballots, the AP made the call because "there was no way for Perdue, who was seeking a second term, to overtake Ossoff’s lead."

Although thousands of votes remained uncounted, the "vast majority were in six Democratic-leaning counties that Ossoff was winning," The AP reported.