Incumbent Republican Georgia Sen. David Perdue conceded to his Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff in the Senate runoff election in Georgia on Friday.
Perdue released a statement congratulating Ossoff, saying although he won the general election, he lost the runoff election. Perdue said him and his wife will continue to pray for Georgia and the U.S.
“Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia’s 50% rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win,” Perdue said in a statement. “Bonnie and I will continue to pray for our wonderful state and our great country. May God continue to bless Georgia and the United States of America.”
The Associated Press called the race with 98% of the vote Wednesday. Ossoff received 2,222,133 million votes, 50.3% of the total, while Perdue received 2,197,274 million votes, 49.7%, according to the New York Times. The Senate will now be divided 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker for the Democrats.
President Donald Trump attends a rally in support of Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) on December 5, 2020 in Valdosta, Georgia. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
Perdue had been in quarantine since the Thursday before the election, after coming into close contact with a campaign staff member who later tested positive for coronavirus and was not able to campaign in person or travel throughout the state. (RELATED: Kelly Loeffler Concedes To Raphael Warnock In Georgia Senate Runoff Election)
Ossoff had the support of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who both campaigned for him in the state. Biden spoke for around an hour on Monday for Ossoff.
President Donald Trump campaigned Monday night for Perdue and Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who also faced a runoff Tuesday, telling voters that the two Senate runoffs would decide the future of the country. Perdue was originally scheduled to appear, but could not due to his quarantine.
Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock also won his runoff race against Loeffler after the election called for Warnock around 2:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. (RELATED: Jon Ossoff Wins Georgia Runoff Election, Defeating Incumbent David Perdue)
Perdue had a small lead over Ossoff in the November election, who previously lost his race for Georgia’s 6th congressional district in 2017 in a runoff election against Republican Karen Handel. Perdue led by just over 90,000 votes with 99% of the vote counted, just short of the required 50% of the vote total to prevent a runoff. (RELATED: Twitter Refuses To Flag Ossoff’s False Accusation That ‘Kelly Loeffler Campaigned With A Klansman’)
One of Ossoff’s latest advertisements featured former President Barack Obama and singer-songwriter John Legend. In the video, Obama said Ossoff will work towards affordable health care, fixing the economy and to pass a new voting rights act if elected. Obama endorsed Ossoff earlier in the year and attended a virtual rally telling people to get out and vote, according to Ossoff’s campaign website.
Ossoff and Georgia Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock’s historic fundraising numbers. Both raised over $100 million in the past two months, breaking Senate fundraising records and out-raising Perdue and Loeffler. Perdue and Loeffler raised over $130 million in total, as of Dec. 25, reporting $68 and $64.1 million, respectively.
Nearly 3.1 million people had already voted prior to election day in the runoff races, which is 40% of all the registered voters in the state, according to data put together by the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project, The New York Times reported.