Republican Brian Kemp declared victory as Governor-Elect of Georgia on Friday, Nov. 16, defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams in one of the most closely watched and contested races of the election.
Kemp won with 50.22 percent of the vote, which is just over the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. Out of the total 3.9 million ballots cast, Kemp led by almost 55,000 votes as of Thursday night. Abrams would have needed more than 17,000 votes to push Kemp under the 50 percent threshold to force a runoff on Dec. 4, as per state law.
