ATLANTA (AP) — Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Democrat Raphael Warnock are headed to a Jan. 5 runoff in the special election for Loeffler’s U.S. Senate seat.
They’re the top two finishers in a crowded field that also included Republican Rep. Doug Collins. But neither was able to get the 50% threshold needed in order to win outright.
Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman, was appointed last year to replace retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson. Warnock is pastor of the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached and is trying to become Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator.
Warnock gained the backing of Democratic leaders including former President Barack Obama. That helped clear the field for Warnock on the Democratic side while Loeffler and Collins battled it out on the right.
The winner will serve the rest of Isakson’s term. The seat goes on the ballot again in 2022.
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