Dear readers,

It is 1 a.m. following Election Day.

Colquitt County’s vote totals have been posted to www.moultrieobserver.com since approximately 10 p.m. We’ve been monitoring the Associated Press and the Georgia Secretary of State’s website so we can announce when the AP projects a winner in statewide races.

At 12:45 a.m. the AP projected Gov. Brian Kemp will win reelection, after he claimed victory and his opponent Stacey Abrams conceded. With 93% of the precincts reporting, Kemp, a Republican, leads Abrams, a Democrat, with 2,048,487 votes (53.42%) to her 1,758,641 (45.87%) and 27,235 (0.72%) for Libertarian Shane Hazel.

The AP and other news agencies are expecting the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Hershel Walker to go to a runoff. With 93% of the precincts reporting, Republican Walker has 1,852,350 votes (48.53%), Democrat Warnock has 1,885,930 (49.41%), and Libertarian Chase Oliver has 78,682 (2.06%).

In the other seven state-wide races on Tuesday’s ballot, AP has not projected a winner but the Republican candidates have strong leads.

The Observer staff is closing its election coverage for tonight, and we will pick it up again at the start of business in the morning.

Kevin C. Hall

Managing editor

The Moultrie Observer