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United StatesPolls closed in Georgia, test election for Biden
A pastor versus a former sports star: America eagerly awaited the results of an election for a US Senate seat in Georgia on Tuesday.
At an Atlanta polling station on December 6, 2022.
Getty Images via AFP
Polling stations closed at 7 p.m. local time (1 a.m. in Switzerland on Wednesday) in this southern state.
Democrat Raphael Warnock, outgoing senator, is opposed to a colt of Donald Trump, former American football player Herschel Walker, for the last act of the midterm legislative elections. The two candidates have already faced each other in November and a second round has been organized to decide between them.
“The eyes of the nation are on you,” pleaded President Joe Biden, calling on voters in this state with a large African-American population to turn out in large numbers at the polls.
Of course, this seat does not depend on the balance of power in the American Congress: the Democrats have already made sure to keep control of the Senate at the end of the “midterms”. The Republicans meanwhile took over the House. But it would offer Republicans broader blocking powers over Joe Biden’s policies. 700 days from the next election, the opposition hopes to break the dynamics of the president.
400 million dollars
On the Democratic side, a victory would consolidate their very slim majority in the Senate, allowing them to exercise greater influence in essential parliamentary committees. It would also significantly limit the influence of a moderate Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, gravedigger of several major projects of the Biden administration.
To realize their ambitions, the Democrats have called on their heavyweights to the rescue. Former President Barack Obama, unquestionably one of the most charismatic figures of the party, was for example campaigning in Atlanta last week.
A sign of the importance and interest in this duel: nearly 400 million dollars were injected into the ballot, the most expensive of the mid-term elections. It looks tight. The few polls show the candidates neck and neck and the final results may not be known for several days.
Atypical profiles
Historically won over to Republicans, Georgia took America by surprise by preferring Joe Biden to Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, then sending two Democrats to the Senate two months later. This state bordering Florida once again finds itself at the heart of all desires. This time, it is also the atypical profile of the candidates that stands out.
With several athletic records to his credit, Republican Herschel Walker, considered one of the greatest players in college football history, entered politics late in life.
The sixty-year-old seeks to seize the seat of Raphael Warnock, who before becoming a senator from Georgia in 2021 served as a pastor from Martin Luther King’s former desk in Atlanta.
The campaign of the pro-Trump African-American candidate, however, has been splashed by several scandals. Herschel Walker, known for his anti-abortion positions, has among other things been accused of having pushed several of his former companions to have abortions.
(AFP)