Democrat Jon Ossoff has defeated Republican David Perdue in the Georgia Senate runoff race, NBC News projects. The win, along with the projected win of Democrat Raphael Warnock over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, puts the Democratic Party in control of the chamber.
Georgia runoff voters were evenly split about which party should control the Senate, according to NBC News Exit Poll results of early and Election Day voters.
The Democratic Party was pushed to victory with the support of 92 percent of Black and liberal voters, 67 percent of voters under 30, 66 percent of urban voters, 63 percent of moderates, 55 percent of college graduates, and 5 in 10 women.
Eighty-two percent of those who thought the Georgia presidential election was conducted fairly voted for the Democrat. Also, 6 in 10 of those who thought the votes in Tuesday’s election would be counted accurately voted for the Democrats.
Seven in 10 of those who prioritize containing the coronavirus over the economy voted for Democrats, as did 58 percent of those who said they were worried about contracting the coronavirus.
According to the exit poll, Ossoff won the support of traditional voting blocs for Democrats — 92 percent of black voters (up from 87 percent in the November election), 92 percent of liberals (up from 85 percent in November), 67 percent of voters under 30 (up from 54 percent in November), and 63 percent of moderates.
Ossoff won the support of 55 percent of college graduates, 54 percent of women and 52 percent of independents.
Warnock also won the support of traditional voting blocs for Democrats — 92 percent of Black voters, 92 percent of liberals, 67 percent of voters under 30 and 63 percent of moderates, according to the exit poll. Fifty-five percent of college graduates, 53 percent of women and 52 percent of independents voted for Warnock, the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church in Atlanta.
Older voters in the runoffs broke for Perdue and Loeffler (both 62 percent) over Ossoff and Warnock (both 38 percent), according to the exit poll. Younger voters, in contrast, broke for Ossoff and Warnock (both 67 percent) over Perdue and Loeffler (both 33 percent).
When asked whom they had voted for in November, runoff voters were about evenly divided between President Donald Trump (48 percent) and President-elect Joe Biden (47 percent), according to the exit poll.
The NBC News Exit Poll was conducted with voters as they left polling places in Georgia on Tuesday. To account for the high number of early and absentee voters and ensure a sample that accurately represents all Georgians, the exit poll also includes extensive interviews with in-person early voters, as well as a telephone survey.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
