# 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia
The 2022 [United States Senate](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-senate) election in Georgia was a contest for the Class 3 Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock, held in two rounds: a November 8, 2022 general election in which no candidate won a majority, and a December 6, 2022 runoff that Warnock won over Republican Herschel Walker, 51.40% to 48.60%.[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen) • [2](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun) Libertarian Chase Oliver's 2.07% in the general election held both major-party candidates below the 50% threshold Georgia law requires, forcing the runoff.[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) Total advertising across the primary, general, and runoff reached $338.5 million.[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| General election, Nov. 8, 2022 | Warnock (D) 1,946,117 (49.44%); Walker (R) 1,908,442 (48.49%); Oliver (L) 81,365 (2.07%)[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen) |
| Runoff, Dec. 6, 2022 | Warnock 1,820,633 (51.40%); Walker 1,721,244 (48.60%); margin 99,389 votes of 3,541,877 total[2](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun) |
| Why a runoff | Georgia law requires a runoff between the top two finishers if no candidate receives more than 50%[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) |
| Ad spending | $338.5 million total per AdImpact; Democrats about $194.4 million to Republicans' $144 million; Warnock alone just over $100 million[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22) |
| Campaign finance (FEC, through Dec. 31, 2022) | Warnock receipts $206,589,342, disbursements $223,498,491; Walker receipts $73,748,652, disbursements $68,726,972[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) |
| Senate effect | Democrats retained the majority and gained one net seat, ending the 118th Congress's organizing balance at 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) • [5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf) |
## Background
Warnock first won the seat in the January 5, 2021 special-election runoff against Republican Kelly Loeffler by about 2 percentage points, becoming the first Democrat to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate since 2005.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) On the same date, in the regular-election runoff, [Jon Ossoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-ossoff) defeated [David Perdue](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-perdue) 50.6% to 49.4% (2,269,923 to 2,214,979 votes), giving Democrats both Georgia seats.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
Georgia's election law shapes its Senate races structurally. A general election advances to a runoff between the top two finishers if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
## Candidates and nominations
Warnock ran as the incumbent.[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen) Outside the Senate he was known as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) He took 702,610 votes, 96.04%, in the May 24, 2022 Democratic primary.[5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf)
The Republican primary was contested. [Herschel Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/herschel-walker), a Hall of Fame professional football player who attended the [University of Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-georgia), represented the United States in the 1992 Olympics, and owned two food-supply businesses, won with 803,560 votes (68.18%), ahead of state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black (157,370, 13.35%) and former Navy officer Latham Saddler (104,471, 8.86%).[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) • [5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf) [Chase Oliver](https://www.edgepedia.org/chase-oliver), a Libertarian, also appeared on the November ballot and became the deciding factor for the runoff threshold.[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen)
## Campaign
The two major-party nominees debated once, on October 14, 2022, at a debate hosted by Nexstar Media at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Savannah. They clashed over abortion and inflation, and agreed that the 2020 election had been legitimately won by [Joe Biden](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-biden).[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
Early voting in the general election ran from October 17 to November 4, 2022.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) The campaign's financial scale was extraordinary for a single state race: total ad spending across the primary, general election, and runoff reached $338.5 million according to AdImpact data, with Democrats outspending Republicans about $194.4 million to $144 million. Warnock led all advertisers, spending just over $100 million on his own campaign.[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22) [Federal Election Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-election-commission) filings show the imbalance ran through the candidates' committees as well: as of December 31, 2022, Warnock's campaign reported receipts of $206,589,342 and disbursements of $223,498,491, while Walker's reported receipts of $73,748,652 and disbursements of $68,726,972; Oliver's campaign reported receipts of $14,206.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) As of November 2022, Ballotpedia reported Warnock had raised more than $123 million and Walker nearly $38 million, figures the year-end FEC totals later exceeded.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
## General election, November 8, 2022
The certified general-election results, with all 159 counties reporting, were:[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raphael Warnock (incumbent) | Democratic | 1,946,117 | 49.44% |
| Herschel Walker | Republican | 1,908,442 | 48.49% |
| Chase Oliver | Libertarian | 81,365 | 2.07% |
Warnock led Walker by 37,675 votes but fell short of the majority threshold, and because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers was scheduled for December 6, 2022.[1](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) The Associated Press noted that Oliver's presence in the race was the reason neither major-party nominee cleared 50%.[6](https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-general-congress-41464728a17d8068958230edabf12208) Total votes cast in the Senate race were 3,935,924 in the November general, up from 1,910,219 in the May primary.[5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf)
## Runoff election, December 6, 2022
The certified runoff results, again with all 159 counties reporting, were:[2](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raphael Warnock | Democratic | 1,820,633 | 51.40% |
| Herschel Walker | Republican | 1,721,244 | 48.60% |
Warnock's margin was 99,389 votes out of 3,541,877 total votes.[2](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun) The Associated Press called the race for Warnock on election night: the vast majority of uncounted votes rested in Democratic strongholds, meaning Walker would not be able to amass the votes needed to overtake the incumbent.[6](https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-general-congress-41464728a17d8068958230edabf12208)
Turnout drew official attention. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported that about 1.6 million people voted on Election Day, describing it as the largest turnout ever for a Georgia midterm runoff, with average wait times of about two minutes.[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22) The certified statewide total for the Senate race was 3,541,877 votes, so the two figures describe different counts; the certified number is the authoritative total for the contest.[2](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun) • [7](https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?class=3&f=0&fips=13&off=3&year=2022) Dave Leip's Atlas, sourcing the Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division, records 3,541,877 total votes and 3,544,579 total ballots cast in the runoff.[7](https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?class=3&f=0&fips=13&off=3&year=2022)
## By the numbers
The election's scale shows up in three comparisons. First, participation: 1,910,219 total votes in the May primary, 3,935,924 in the November general, and 3,541,877 in the December runoff, meaning the runoff drew about 90% of the general election's Senate vote total.[5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf) Second, money: $338.5 million in advertising, split roughly $194.4 million Democratic to $144 million Republican, with Warnock's own committee outspending Walker's in receipts by a ratio of nearly three to one ($206.6 million to $73.7 million).[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) Third, granularity: a publicly archived precinct-level dataset covers both the November general and December runoff, with vote counts broken out by absentee-by-mail, advance voting, election day, and provisional vote types, enabling county-level and vote-method analysis of the shift between rounds.[8](https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/ctmks2)
## How it compares with the 2020–21 Georgia Senate races
The 2022 race was the third consecutive Georgia Senate contest decided in a runoff within two years, following the January 5, 2021 special-election runoff (Warnock over Loeffler) and the same-day regular-election runoff (Ossoff 50.6%, Perdue 49.4%).[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022) Across those contests, Warnock had been the leading vote-getter in each of the four Georgia Senate election rounds in which he ran since November 2020, counting his November 2022 general-election plurality and December runoff victory.[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22) The 118th Congress was seated with a Senate party composition of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents.[5](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf)
## Aftermath and significance
Warnock's runoff victory gave Democrats their 51st seat, and the party retained its Senate majority with a net gain of one seat, moving the post-election balance to 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
The result also fed a Republican self-assessment in Georgia. Raffensperger pointed to Republican weakness in the suburbs as an area the party needed to improve in future elections.[4](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22)
## References
1. [State Election Results — November 8, 2022 General Election, U.S. Senate, Georgia Secretary of State](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022NovGen)
2. [State Election Results — December 6, 2022 General Election Runoff, Georgia Secretary of State](https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/2022DecGenRun)
3. [United States Senate election in Georgia, 2022, Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia,_2022)
4. [Dec. 7, 2022: Georgia Senate race results, CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-results-12-07-22)
5. [Federal Elections 2022: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, Federal Election Commission](https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2022.pdf)
6. [Why AP called the Georgia Senate runoff for Warnock, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-general-congress-41464728a17d8068958230edabf12208)
7. [2022 Senatorial General Election Results — Georgia, Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections](https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?class=3&f=0&fips=13&off=3&year=2022)
8. [2022 Georgia U.S. Senate Precinct Results, Harvard Dataverse](https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/ctmks2)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › United States election events › United States federal election events › US Senate election events › Senate elections, 2006–present*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license