Democrat Jon Ossoff overtakes John Perdue in battle for second crunch Georgia senate seat amid Trump ‘fraud’ claims
THE Democrats looks set to seize back control of the Senate as Jon Ossoff leads his rival in a tight Georgia runoff amid Donald Trump's continued allegations of fraud.
Last night, Democrat Raphael Warnock sensationally won the first of the twin runoffs which could have a huge impact on the first two years of Joe Biden's presidency.
Trump's Republican Party has controlled the upper chamber of Congress for the past four years.
If Democrats manage to wrestle back control of the Senate, it will enable the party to impose their legislative agenda on Washington.
Ossoff has won 50.1 per cent of vote in the traditionally red state over David Perdue who has 49.9 per cent with 98 per cent of the ballots counted.
He has come from behind after trailing Perdue by about 10,000 votes – however the remaining ballots are in counties that are Democratic strongholds.
And the significance of Ossoff and Warnock's victories in Georgia, a traditionally-conservative state, cannot be overplayed.
They signify a clear political shift in the state following Joe Biden's stunning win in the general election which flipped Georgia Democrat for the first time since 1992.
Warnock will be the first black Democratic senator from a former Confederate state while Ossoff, 33, will be the youngest Democratic senator since Biden, who was first elected in 1973.
Had both Perdue and fellow Republican Kelly Loeffler won re-election, the GOP would have maintained their majority of 52-48 seats.
However, after tonight's results, Democratic VP-elect Kamala Harris would have the deciding vote in a Senate tied 50-50 seats.
As the runoffs appeared to pull away from the Republicans, Trump floated unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the results – despite Georgia being a GOP-controlled state as of election night.
Shortly after midnight, the president tweeted: "Just happened to have found another 4000 ballots from Fulton County. Here we go!"
The brash billioniare made more claims about election fraud late last night.
He wrote: "Looks like they are setting up a big 'voter dump' against the Republican candidates.
"Waiting to see how many votes they need?"
Trump earlier called the crunch runoffs a "fraud," alleging Dominion voting machines were not working for an hour in Republican strongholds and ballots were being left in locked boxes.
Democrats began celebrating after NBC was the first network to call Warnock's bombshell win.
His Republican rival Loeffler has refused to concede victory, telling supporters: "Every single American, stay in the fight with us.
"We are going to keep fighting for you. I work for you, I don't owe anyone up there anything."
In a speech delivered on Youtube, Warnock said: "We were told we couldn’t win this election, but tonight we proved that, with hope, hard work and the people by our side, anything is possible.
"I am so honored by the faith that you have shown in me, and I promise you this: I am going to the Senate to work for Georgia, all of Georgia, no matter who you cast your vote for in this election."
In a tweet on Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden said, "Georgia – The nation is looking to you to lead us forward."
"The power is in your hands," he added.
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