And there we are — Warnock won! (gift link)

Senate Democrats look to the future with expanded majority after Georgia win

With 51 votes in the Senate now, Democrats are celebrating faster legislative movement and newly obtained subpoena power

Tomorrow is election day in Georgia, and our final Senate seat will be decided at last. Nearly two million votes (gift link) have already been cast, setting new records for early voting in the state.

Georgia Senate runoff smashes early voting records — and attracts new voters

Georgia has set new records for early voting again as the two Senate candidates blitz the state ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election. And the contest is drawing new voters, too.

More than 1.85 million Georgians have voted early, according to the office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, breaking two single-day records in about a week.

Among those who have already turned out, 56% were women and 44% men. White voters made up 55% of early voters, 32% were Black, and Latinos and Asian Americans each accounted for less than 2% of the total….

 
Incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock may well beat Herschel Walker, but it is not a certain thing. We know that turnout by women, people of color, and young voters is good news for Democrats, but tomorrow’s final vote will be crucial. Right now the Senate has a Democratic majority, but if Walker wins the Senate will return to an even 50-50 split, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tie vote. With her vote, Dems will hold the majority regardless of what happens in this race. But turning that to a 51-49 majority would have several very useful effects, as this New York Times essay explains. (gift link)

Everything Democrats Could Do if Warnock Wins

…Yet the outcome of Mr. Warnock’s contest matters significantly, for Democrats and Republicans alike — but especially for Democrats. They need Mr. Warnock in power for at least two overriding reasons: to safeguard their gains in the judiciary and to bolster their national bench….

If Mr. Warnock wins, the Senate can move more rapidly and seek judges who are perhaps more progressive in their worldviews — the sort who could hit a snag if someone like Joe Manchin, the centrist from West Virginia, or Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is the deciding vote.

Democrats must evenly split committee members in the 50-50 Senate, giving Republicans the power to delay votes on judges. A 51-49 majority would be much more dominant: Committees like the judiciary would be stacked with Democrats, greatly speeding up the confirmation process….

And then there’s 2024. If Mr. Walker defeats Mr. Warnock, Republicans will have an enormous advantage in their quest to not only flip the Senate but also build a durable majority that could last a generation or more. The 2024 map is foreboding for Democrats…

No doubt VP Harris would be more than happy to use her time for something other than babysitting the Senate.

I’ve said before and still believe that Herschel Walker would be incompetent as a Senator. I can barely believe that the Republican Party hasn’t melted down in shame for even nominating such a person to represent them. It’s up to the rest of us, this time in Georgia, to show a better side of the United States by electing Raphael Warnock to remain in the Senate.