It was the last act of the midterm elections in the United States. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock won against his Republican rival Herschel Walker in the second round of a senatorial election in the state of Georgia (United States), Tuesday, December 6, thus consolidating the Democratic majority in the American Senate.
The Democratic senator, in office since January 2021, was opposed to a protege of Donald Trump, the anti-abortion Republican Herschel Walker – accused of having pushed several of his former companions to have abortions. The two men had already faced each other in November and a second round had to be organized in order to decide between them.
This victory does not change the balance of power in the US Congress. Democrats had already secured control of the Senate in November. With this new victory, they thus obtain 51 seats in the upper house, against 50 seats out of 100 over the past two years. The Republicans have meanwhile taken over the House of Representatives (the lower house of the American Congress), but with a much shorter majority than expected.
The Republican “wave” did not take place
This new seat gives greater freedom to Joe Biden’s party. Among other things, it will allow the Democrats to exercise greater influence in key parliamentary committees. This new majority will also significantly limit the influence of a moderate Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, gravedigger of several major projects of the Biden administration.
With this seat, the Republicans hoped for their part to offer themselves broader blocking powers to the policies of Joe Biden. But the Republican “wave” promised by former President Donald Trump in the midterm elections has not materialized. This did not prevent the Republican, embroiled in various scandals and legal troubles, from declaring himself a candidate for the presidential election.