Georgia Senate election results: Jon Ossoff declared runoff winner as ‘militia gathers’ at state Capitol

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Related video: Georgia election official debunks one Trump conspiracy theory after another

Democrats took control of the Senate after Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler by razor-thin margins.

The victories were overshadowed by riots in Washington DC as a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the count of the Electoral College votes declaring Joe Biden as president elect.

The chaos spread to Georgia as governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger were reportedly evacuated after a 'militia' gathered outside the state Capitol.

Mr Ossoff, 33, becomes the youngest man to enter the Senate since president-elect Joe Biden did so himself in 1973 while Reverend Warnock becomes the state’s first black senator and only the second black senator elected to represent a former Confederate state.

Their wins mean that both parties have 50 senators each, leaving the deciding vote in legislative matters with vice president-elect Kamala Harris and seeing Mitch McConnell deposed as majority leader.

• Washington DC riots - live: ‘Shots fired’ heard on police radio as armed Trump supporters storm Capitol
• Militia members gather outside the Georgia Capitol as pro-Trump rioters storm Washington DC over Democrat win
• Romney blames Trump for inciting ‘insurrection’ as lawmakers plead with violent rioters to disperse from Capitol
• Armed pro-Trump rioters breach US capitol as lawmakers shelter in place

Key Points

• Huge victory for Democrats as they flip the Senate, giving Biden one-party control
• Ossoff beats Perdue and Democrats flip Senate
• Militia members are gathering outside the Georgia Capitol
• Obama invokes John Lewis and Stacy Abrams in in Georgia runoff results
• Biden cheers Senate runoff wins
• Warnock beats Loeffler to hand Democrats victory

[6 January 2021 10:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Warnock: ‘I hear you, I see you, and every day I’m in the Senate, I will fight for you’

In case you missed it earlier, here’s the reverend’s victory speech after defeating Kelly Loeffler.

[6 January 2021 10:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Gloating begins as Mitch McConnell set for demotion to Senate minority leader

Things are looking bleak for the self-styled Grim Reaper AKA Cocaine Mitch, whose name is currently trending on Twitter as thousands relish the prospect of his demotion, which would see New York’s Chuck Schumer succeed him as majority leader in the upper chamber and vastly improve the prospects for President Biden’s legislative ambitions.

No one is shedding a tear for Kelly Loeffler either, whom Angela Rye on CNN insisted on referring to as “KKK Kelly”.

[6 January 2021 11:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

Federal judge in Atlanta denies last-minute push by Trump to decertify Georgia Biden victory

Chalk up another court defeat for the beleaguered outgoing president, who is increasingly sabotaging all around him by operating in an alternative reality.

Shweta Sharma has this report.

[6 January 2021 11:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Jon Ossoff up by 16,000 votes as Dems found to have outspent rivals on advertising

This is all but over.

Interestingly, the Democrats spent more than their Republican counterparts on advertising during the contest.

In all, of the almost $505m invested in total, around $88m was spent by Ossoff’s campaign and $72m by Raphael Warnock’s, compared with $51.8m by Kelly Loeffler’s team and $49.9m by David Perdue’s, according to tracking firm Medium Buying.

[6 January 2021 11:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Abrams celebrates Georgia result: ‘Across our state we roared’

Mayank Aggarwal has the latest reaction from the woman of the hour.

[6 January 2021 12:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

Eric Trump: ‘The MAGA movement is going nowhere’

You got that right genius.

The president’s unimpressive and weak-chinned middle child here with yet another savage self-own as he attempts to threaten elected representatives on live TV, a last desperate throw of the dice for this disastrous dynasty.

Diamond and Silk have also been mourning the derailing of their ramshackle gravy train with increasingly pitiful and unconvincing conspiracy tweets like this. 

Like Kelly Loeffler, they’ll just have to “keep on fighting”.

[6 January 2021 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

The Fox and Friends hosts are having a rough morning

Brian Kilmeade on the president’s favourite breakfast show is leading the post-mortem and concludes Trump’s busy schedule of undermining democracy since November might be responsible for the low turnout that cost Loeffler and (probably) Perdue their seats.

The presenter has also been careful to warn viewers not to expect miracles from Mike Pence today, insisting he is “helpless” to stop the certification of the election results in the Senate because his role is “ceremonial” only, whatever Trump says to the contrary.

Colleague Ainsley Earhardt meanwhile places the blame for Georgia on the Republican candidates themselves.

[6 January 2021 12:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Bernice King hails ‘dawning of a new day’

On the winning side, the daughter of civil rights icon the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr celebrates Warnock’s win as a triumph for Black America.

As for Ossoff, he could be about to become the youngest senator in US history since one Joseph R Biden.

[6 January 2021 13:07 · Joe Sommerlad]

Jon Ossoff declares victory: ‘Thank you Georgia’

There it is.

A huge moment for America.

Here’s Chris Riotta with the very latest.

[6 January 2021 13:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump reacts to Ossoff declaration with all-caps rant

The president’s first tweets of the day find him heaping further pressure on Mike Pence to somehow void the certification of the election results, with the most recent appearing to acknowledge the brace of Democrat wins in Georgia.