2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia

← 2016 November 3, 2020 (first round) January 5, 2021 (runoff) 2022 →
Turnout	65.3% (first round) 59.7% (runoff)
Candidate Raphael Warnock Kelly Loeffler Party Democratic Republican First round 1,617,035 32.90% 1,273,214 25.91% Runoff 2,289,113 51.04% 2,195,841 48.96%   Candidate Doug Collins Deborah Jackson Party Republican Democratic First round 980,454 19.95% 324,118 6.6% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated
Warnock:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Collins:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     >90% Jackson:     30–40%     40–50% Tie:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No dataFirst round county results Warnock:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Collins:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     >90% Jackson:     30–40%     40–50% Tie:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No dataFirst round congressional district results Warnock:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Collins:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     >90% Jackson:     30–40%     40–50% Tie:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50%     No dataFirst round precinct results Warnock:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie     50%     No dataRunoff county results Warnock:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie     50%     No dataRunoff congressional district results Warnock:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Loeffler:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie     50%     No dataRunoff precinct results
U.S. senator before election Kelly Loeffler[note 1] Republican Elected U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock Democratic

The2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect theClass III member of theUnited States Senate to represent theState of Georgia.DemocratRaphael Warnock defeated appointed incumbentRepublicanKelly Loeffler. The first round of the election was held on November 3, 2020; however, no candidate received a majority of the vote, so the top two candidates—Warnock and Loeffler—advanced to a runoff on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won narrowly.

The special election was prompted by the December 2019 resignation ofJohnny Isakson. Georgia governor Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler as the interim replacement pending the special election.

Under Georgia law, noprimary election took place for the special election; all candidates, regardless of party, were placed on the same ballot (known as anonpartisan blanket primary, or "jungle primary"), and the election was held on November 3, 2020. Warnock received the most votes with 32.9%, and Loeffler came in second with 25.9%. No candidate received more than 50% of the vote, so the top two candidates advanced to arunoff election on January 5, 2021.^[1]

The runoff was held concurrently with theregular Georgia Class II Senate election, in which DemocratJon Ossoff defeated incumbent RepublicanDavid Perdue, also in a runoff on January 5. Following the November 3, 2020 Senate elections, Republicans held 50 Senate seats, and the Democratic caucus—46 registered Democrats and two allied independents—had 48. Because of this, the two Georgia runoffs determined the balance of theUnited States Senate under the incomingBiden administration. Winning both races gave the Democratic caucus 50 Senate seats, an effective majority with Democraticvice presidentKamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes. The extraordinarily high political stakes caused the races to attract significant attention nationwide and globally.

Major media outlets, includingDecision Desk HQ, theAssociated Press,The New York Times, andNBC News, called the election for Warnock in the early hours of January 6, just minutes after he declared victory. Though Loeffler vowed to challenge the results after she returned from theelectoral vote certification in Washington,^[2] she conceded on January 7.^[3] Ossoff and Warnock became the first Democrats to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia sinceZell Miller in the2000 special election. Warnock is the firstBlack senator from Georgia, as well as the first Black Democrat from theSouth elected to the Senate. Though Warnock is the first Democratic senator from this seat since the latter election,^[4] hours later Ossoff was declared the winner in the regular Senate election.^[5][6] The two elections mark the first time since the1994 United States Senate election in Tennessee and theconcurrent special election that both Senate seats in a state have flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle. This was also the first time the Democrats achieved this since West Virginia's1958 Senate elections. The election results were certified on January 19, 2021, with the senators-elect taking office on January 20, marking the first time since 2003 that Democrats held both of Georgia’s Senate seats and making them the first Democratic U.S. Senators from Georgia since 2005.^[7][8][9] Loeffler would later go on to serve as theAdministrator of the Small Business Administration in 2025 duringDonald Trump'ssecond term in office.

On August 28, 2019, Isakson announced that he would resign from the Senate effective December 31, 2019, due to his deteriorating health.^[10] This triggered a special election to fill the remainder of his term. On September 17, 2019, Georgia governorBrian Kemp launched a website inviting Georgia citizens to submit their résumés to be considered for appointment.^[11] PresidentDonald Trump advocated the appointment of RepresentativeDoug Collins.^[12] Kemp appointed Loeffler to fill the seat until the 2020 special election; she took office on January 6, 2020.^[13]

Despite the large number of candidates in the special election, by October 4, 2020, theDemocratic Party had largely consolidated around Warnock's candidacy and had pressured other Democratic candidates, such as Matt Lieberman, to drop out to avoid vote-splitting.^[14]

While she had not been treated as a major contender and was largely ignored by pollsters, Deborah Jackson received 6.6% of the vote in the initial round of the election, being the second-best performing Democrat, and outperformed fellow Democrats such as Matt Lieberman andEd Tarver, who pollsters had paid attention to.Al Jazeera attributed her performance, in part, to her being the first Democrat listed in the order of candidates that appeared on the ballot, and her being a familiar figure in the Democratic stronghold ofDeKalb County.^[15]

• Raphael Warnock, senior pastor ofEbenezer Baptist Church^[16]

• Deborah Jackson, attorney and former mayor ofLithonia^[17]
• Jamesia James, businesswoman and U.S. Air Force veteran^[17]
• Tamara Johnson-Shealey, businesswoman and frequent candidate^[17]
• Matt Lieberman, businessman, activist, and son ofJoe Lieberman, former U.S. senator fromConnecticut^[18]
• Joy Felicia Slade, physician^[17]
• Ed Tarver, formerUnited States attorney for theSouthern District of Georgia and former state senator^[19][20]
• Richard Dien Winfield, professor and candidate forGeorgia's 10th congressional district in2018^[21]

• Stacey Abrams, nominee for Governor of Georgia in2018 and former minority leader of theGeorgia House of Representatives(endorsed Warnock)^[22]
• Sherry Boston,DeKalb County District Attorney^[22][23]
• Jason Carter, nominee for Governor of Georgia in2014, former state senator, and grandson of former U.S. presidentJimmy Carter(endorsed Warnock)^[24]
• Stacey Evans, candidate for Governor of Georgia in2018 and former state representative(ran for State House)^[25]
• Jen Jordan, state senator^[26][27]
• Lucy McBath, incumbent U.S. representative forGeorgia's 6th congressional district(ran for re-election)^[28]
• Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE USA and nominee for U.S. Senate in2014; daughter of former senatorSam Nunn^[29]
• Jon Ossoff, documentary filmmaker and nominee forGeorgia's 6th congressional district in2017(ran successfully in the regular Class 2 seat)^[30]
• Mike Thurmond,DeKalb County chief executive, former labor Ccmmissioner of Georgia, and nominee for U.S. Senate in2010^[26]
• Teresa Tomlinson, former mayor ofColumbus(ran in the regular Class 2 seat)^[31][32]
• Nikema Williams, state senator and chair of theGeorgia Democratic Party(later ran for U.S. House)^[28]
• Sally Yates, formerUnited States deputy attorney general^[33][34]

• Kelly Loeffler, incumbent U.S. senator

• Doug Collins, incumbent U.S. representative forGeorgia's 9th congressional district^[77]
• Derrick Grayson, minister, network engineer, software developer, perennial candidate, U.S. Navy veteran^[17]
• Annette Davis Jackson, businesswoman and candidate forGeorgia State Senate in2016^[17]
• Kandiss Taylor, student services coordinator forAppling County Board of Education^[78]

• Wayne Johnson, former chief operating officer of theOffice of Federal Student Aid^[79](remained on ballot)
• Ervan Katari Miller, perennial candidate^[80][81]

• Nick Ayers, former chief of staff toVice PresidentMike Pence^[82]
• Ashley Bell, regional administrator for theSmall Business Administration^{[citation needed]}
• Paul Broun, former U.S. representative fromGeorgia's 10th congressional district^[83]
• Buddy Carter, incumbent U.S. representative forGeorgia's 1st congressional district^[84]
• Geoff Duncan, incumbentlieutenant governor of Georgia^[85]
• Stuart Frohlinger, finance expert^[86][87]
• Tom Graves, incumbent U.S. representative fromGeorgia's 14th congressional district^[85]
• Karen Handel, former U.S. representative fromGeorgia's 6th congressional district and former Georgia secretary of state(ran for U.S. House)^[88]
• Scott Hilton, former state representative(endorsed Loeffler)^[89]
• Jan Jones, Speaker pro tempore of theGeorgia House of Representatives^[90]
• Brian Kemp, incumbentgovernor of Georgia^[91](endorsed Loeffler)^[92]
• Butch Miller, state senator^[93]
• B. J. Pak,United States attorney for theNorthern District of Georgia and former state representative^[83]
• Sonny Perdue,United States secretary of agriculture and former governor of Georgia^[93]
• Tom Price, formerUnited States secretary of health and human services and former U.S. representative forGeorgia's 6th congressional district^[94]

• Brian Slowinski, Republican candidate forGeorgia's 10th congressional district in2014^[137]

• John "Green" Fortuin^[81]

• Al Bartell, businessman, former Republican and Vietnam-era Air Force veteran^{[138][139][140]}
• Allen Buckley, attorney, accountant,Libertarian nominee for the U.S. Senate in2004,2008,2016 and nominee forLieutenant Governor of Georgia in2006
• Michael Todd Greene^[141][81]
• Rod Mack(write-in candidate), member of the City of Hapeville Board of Appeals and candidate in the2018 Georgia gubernatorial election^[81]
• Valencia Stovall,state representative^[81]

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Since no candidate won a majority of the vote on November 3, the top two finishers—Loeffler and Warnock—advanced to a January 5, 2021 runoff election.^[199][200]

Loeffler won seven out of 14 congressional districts to Warnock's six and Collins's one.^[203]

The runoff election for Isakson's former seat was on January 5, 2021. Theregularly scheduled runoff election for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat held by RepublicanDavid Perdue was also decided in a January 5 runoff, but was defeated byJon Ossoff also in a close finish. Before the Georgia runoffs in the 2020 U.S. Senate elections, Republicans held 50 Senate seats and the Democratic caucus held 48.^[204] Warnock declared victory on January 6, 2021.^[205] If Democrats won the other Georgia runoff held on January 5, their caucus would gain control of the Senate, as the resultant 50–50 tie would be broken by Democratic vice president-electKamala Harris. If they lost the second race, Republicans would retain control.^[206] The extremely high political stakes caused the races to attract significant attention nationwide.^{[207][208][209]} They were the third and fourth Senate runoff elections held in Georgia since runoffs were first mandated in 1964, after runoffs in1992^{[citation needed]} and2008.^[210] It was also the third time that both of Georgia's Senate seats have been up for election at the same time, following double-barrel elections in1914 and1932.^{[citation needed]} TheAssociated Press and other major news outlets called the race for Warnock in the early morning hours of January 6.^[211] His win was attributed to heavy black voter turnout.^[212]

The deadline for registration for the runoff election was December 7.^[213] Absentee ballots for the runoff were sent out beginning on November 18, and in-person voting began on December 14.^[214][215]

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Aggregate polls