ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia voters headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the state’s high-stakes battle for an open U.S. Senate seat, while the prospect of a lengthy runoff loomed if no candidate captures a majority of the vote.
The race between Democrat Michelle Nunn and Republican David Perdue has been a key battleground in the national fight for control of the Senate and viewed as a bellwether to determine if Democrats have made enough gains in what has been a reliably Republican state to make it competitive for the 2016 presidential election.
With polls suggesting a tight race, Libertarian Amanda Swafford could play spoiler if neither of the two major party candidates are able to capture the required 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a Jan. 6 runoff. And if control of the Senate is still up for grabs after Tuesday, a Georgia runoff would draw an unprecedented amount of attention and money from those looking to influence the balance of power in Washington.
Polls were open until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
When Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced his retirement last year, it triggered a free-for-all among Republicans but an early consensus around Nunn, which allowed Democrats to spend time and money on a sophisticated voter tracking system to target those who don’t vote in midterm elections and might be open to a Democrat. Other groups focused on registering minorities, resulting in nearly 120,000 new voters Democrats hoped to push to the polls to cut into Republican gains over the last decade.