Democrats take control of the Senate

By Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 2312 GMT (0712 HKT) January 6, 2021
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5:03 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

CNN Projects: Democrats will take control of the Senate as Ossoff wins

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff of Georgia speaks to supporters during a rally on November 15, 2020 in Marietta, Georgia.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff of Georgia speaks to supporters during a rally on November 15, 2020 in Marietta, Georgia. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

Democrat Jon Ossoff will win his Senate race in Georgia, CNN projects.

His win means Democrats will have control of the Senate. With Ossoff and Raphael Warnock's wins over Georgia's two incumbent GOP senators, there will be a 50-50 split in the Senate.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, also a Democrat, will cast any tie-breaking votes.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer reports. Watch:

4:04 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Georgia secretary of state relocated from Capitol for security reasons

From CNN’s Amara Walker and Jason Morris

The Georgia State Capitol is seen on January 6 in Atlanta.
The Georgia State Capitol is seen on January 6 in Atlanta. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Gabriel Sterling, and other staffers from their office have been relocated from the Georgia State Capitol building for security reasons, Sterling told CNN.  

Sterling, the state's voting implementation manager, said Raffensperger and some of his staff were escorted from their offices with their usual security detail at around 1:30 p.m. ET "out of an abundance of caution." 

Sterling said that this was not a reaction to the breach at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, but rather a proactive move.    

"We were watching the President double down and quadruple down, so we thought it was better to remove ourselves from the situation rather than inflame the situation," Sterling told CNN.  

A small group of "Stop the Steal" protesters and supporters of President Trump have gathered in front of the Georgia State Capitol. Some of the protesters were armed with long guns, according to CNN Producer Jason Morris.     

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office at the State Capitol is now closed for the day. There is a heavy law enforcement presence inside and outside of the Capitol.  

2:00 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Gwinnett County workers begin scanning roughly 5,000 outstanding absentee ballots

From CNN's Wes Bruer

Workers at the Gwinnett County Georgia elections headquarters process absentee ballots for Georgia's Senate runoff election in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on January 6.
Workers at the Gwinnett County Georgia elections headquarters process absentee ballots for Georgia's Senate runoff election in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on January 6. Ben Gray/AP

Gwinnett County election workers have begun scanning the roughly 5,000 absentee votes outstanding into the system.

They began at 1p.m. ET, expect to be finished by 5 p.m. ET and would soon thereafter push those numbers to the Secretary of State’s election results website, Gwinnett County public information officer Joe Sorenson told CNN. But depending on how many absentee ballots need to be adjudicated, that number could be lower.

The ballots are batched into 50 or 100 ballots. If one or more of those ballots needs to be adjudicated, the whole batch will be pulled. They are hoping to have adjudication panels come in this afternoon to handle the small amount of ballots they anticipate will need adjudication, but if they are not able to, then the batches pulled will not be included in the end of day count.

Sorenson told CNN he does not expect the number of ballots needing adjudication to be very high as the ballot only included three races. It leaves a smaller chance of voters making mistakes on their ballots. For example, if 10 ballots in 10 separate batches need adjudication, that could leave as many as 1,000 ballots from being included in the end-of-day count.

A reminder: Adjudication panels include one Democrat, one Republican and a neutral third-party that all must agree on the voter’s intent to cast their ballot for one candidate or another when a mistake has been on the ballot and is rejected by the scanner.

1:58 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

GOP quiet on any possible recount in Perdue-Ossoff race

From CNN's Ryan Nobles

Republicans are not tipping their hands this morning on how Sen. David Perdue will respond if the final count shows him trailing Jon Ossoff inside the margin of .5%, which would allow him to ask for a recount. 

Remember: While Ossoff is leading Perdue, the race is still too close to call, and CNN has not yet projected a winner.

There are no automatic recounts in Georgia, a trailing candidate must ask for one.

The Perdue campaign did not respond to a request from CNN about their plans this morning, but in a statement last night promised their supporters that they would exhaust “every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots will be properly counted.”

One GOP source involved in the race told CNN that they “simply have no idea” how Perdue will respond when presented with the option of a recount. 

It is important to point out that while there are still votes to be counted, Ossoff’s lead over Perdue is greater than the margin Biden beat Trump by in the general election. That margin was confirmed by three different recounts. 

12:34 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Democrats are on the verge of taking the Senate

Democratic candidates for Senate Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden bump elbows on stage during a rally outside Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 4.
Democratic candidates for Senate Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden bump elbows on stage during a rally outside Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 4. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Democrats are moving closer to winning control of the Senate as Jon Ossoff continues to lead GOP incumbent Sen. David Perdue. The race is still too close to call, but Ossoff's lead has continued as more votes are counted.

CNN already projected that Democrat Raphael Warnock will win the special Senate runoff election against GOP Senate candidate Kelly Loeffler.

If Ossoff wins his race, there will be a 50-50 split and control of the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris acting as the tie-breaker.

Moments ago, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer congratulated Warnock and Ossoff, saying that “one of the first things” he wants to do as Senate Majority Leader is pass $2,000 stimulus checks.

Remember: CNN has not called the race between Ossoff and Perdue.

12:47 p.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Staunch Trump ally says President's rigged election message was not "very helpful" in Georgia

From CNN's Ali Zaslav and Manu Raju 

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N. Dak., holds up a copy of the Constitution while talking to Trump supporters in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, on Tuesday, January 5.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N. Dak., holds up a copy of the Constitution while talking to Trump supporters in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, on Tuesday, January 5. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a staunch Trump ally, said he doesn’t think President Trump’s message to voters – saying that the election was rigged – was "very helpful" for Republicans in the Georgia Senate races.

"It’s a good question, I don't know the answer, necessarily, whether it was helpful or not. He was gonna get blamed either way," he said, when asked if Trump’s message that the election was was rigged was helpful to turn out voters.

Cramer continued,

"I personally don't think it was very helpful. I think it's the numbers sort of demonstrate that in certain areas where, you know, interestingly during the election in November, Senator Perdue outperformed the president in several places. .. And this time around several people didn’t come out to vote."
11:49 a.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Here are the outstanding votes yet to be counted in Georgia, according to an election official

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Workers scan ballots at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia on January 5, during the Georgia Senate runoff elections.
Workers scan ballots at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia on January 5, during the Georgia Senate runoff elections. Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images

More than 1 million absentee-by-mail votes have been counted in Georgia, election official Gabriel Sterling said in a press briefing.

He also provided details on the number of absentee ballots that have been checked in but not yet scanned and uploaded as results as of 10 a.m. ET.

"Counties are still putting stuff in, they're also scanning. So these numbers will be a little fluid during the day today. But these are the basic ones we have as of 10 a.m. this morning," he said.

Here's a look at some of the most updated numbers from Sterling:

  • DeKalb County: 17,902
  • Henry County: 9,078
  • Cobb County: 5,896
  • Chatham County: 5,318
  • Fulton County: 5,294
  • Gwinnett County: 5,068
  • Thomas County: 2,078
  • Bryan County: 1,515
  • Meriwether County: 1,325
  • Dougherty County: 1,200
  • Fayette County: 1,139

"The biggest buckets of them are from the metro area with a handful scattered about the state. We have requested of the counties, we don't have a right to direct them, but we have requested they get all of the absentee ballots accounted for as in they received them," Sterling said, adding that he hopes most counties will make the deadline and upload the absentee ballots online by 1 p.m. ET today.

He added:

"Again, I want to remind everybody, these folks are all tired. They've had a long day and a long week and a long month and a long year, but they are doing their best to get these results quickly. I know some people were surprised how quickly results did come in, but that's the advantage of having three races on the ballots."

11:41 a.m. ET, January 6, 2021

"It irritates me:" Republican election official in Georgia frustrated with Trump's behavior

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's Voting System Implementation manager, speaks during a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on January 4, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's Voting System Implementation manager, speaks during a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on January 4, in Atlanta, Georgia. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Gabriel Sterling, the voting systems implementation manager for the Georgia Secretary of State's office, reiterated that President Trump is to blame for Republicans losing key races, including the presidency and now presumably two Senate races.

Remember: Democrat Raphael Warnock will win the special Senate runoff election against GOP Senate candidate Kelly Loeffler, CNN projects. While Democrat Jon Ossoff is leading GOP incumbent Sen. David Perdue, the race is still too close to call.

Sterling said that by telling people their vote doesn't count and "don't come and vote, then you spark a civil war within a GOP that needs to be united to get through a tough fight like this in a state that's been trending – from the point of view of Republicans – from the other direction for years now."

As a Republican he said, "It irritates me."

"We need a unified team with a unified message looking to the future," Sterling added.
11:34 a.m. ET, January 6, 2021

Biden congratulates Warnock on his projected win

From CNN’s Sarah Mucha and Jeff Zeleny

President-elect Joe Biden rallies with Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock the day before their runoff election in the parking lot of Center Parc Stadium, on January 4, in Atlanta, Georgia.
President-elect Joe Biden rallies with Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock the day before their runoff election in the parking lot of Center Parc Stadium, on January 4, in Atlanta, Georgia. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden released a statement today congratulating Raphael Warnock on his projected win in the Georgia Senate runoff election and paying homage to the "twin powers" of Georgia, Stacey Abrams and Keisha Lance Bottoms. 

"Georgia's voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now. On COVID-19, on economic relief, on climate, on racial justice, on voting rights and so much more," he added. 

Biden says he intends to move forward with key Cabinet nominations while the Georgia results are confirmed.

"My nominees for critical national security positions at State, Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security have bipartisan support and have been confirmed by the Senate before. They need to be in their jobs as soon as possible after January 20th," he said.