Democrats have strengthened their majority in the US Senate. The Republicans could tie in the number of seats, but their candidate had to win in the state of Georgia. On the second ballot, Republican Herschel Walker lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on Tuesday night.
Not all the votes have been counted yet, but the margin was so large that Walker conceded his loss. “I’m not going to make excuses, we fought hard for it,” he told supporters after his defeat.
Thanks to Warnock’s victory, Democrats won 51 of the 100 seats in the Senate, one of the two houses of the U.S. Congress in Washington. Republicans have 49 seats. The decision is seen as a loss for former President Donald Trump, who has strongly supported Walker.
Georgia’s vote was necessary because none of the candidates could get the necessary majority in the first round of elections last month.
According to the non-profit organization OpenSecrets, both parties spent a total of $401 million (€383 million) on the race between Warnock and Walker. That made the Senate race in Georgia, home to 10.8 million people, the most expensive in the U.S. this year.