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Incumbent Republican Senate candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue were defeated by Democratic rivals Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff by razor thin margins.

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Warnock made history by becoming the first elected black Senator in Georgia’s history, and only the second Black senator elected from a Southern state since Reconstruction, following Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). The Georgia Democrat is a senior pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. 

The win results in a 50-50 Senate, and Democrats gain control with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris eventually casting possible tie-breaking votes.

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Here are some of the key areas that the results will impact: 

• The economy. The size and scope of recovery efforts will be shaped by who controls the Senate. Democratic wins would likely mean more from the government. “A sweep by Democrats would open the door to more powerful fiscal stimulus that the shaky economy may very well need. But it would also raise the risk of corporate tax hikes that investors despise.”
• Biden’s ability to govern. His ability to get the people he wants in his Cabinet and in other key roles is entirely up to the Senate. One reason we don’t yet know his pick to be attorney general has got to be that Biden doesn’t know if it’s a Republican or Democratic majority who will be voting to confirm.
• Congressional oversight and Biden. A Democratic majority will mean much less combative oversight, at least to start the Biden administration. It would also make Republican efforts to attack him over his son’s previous business dealings — Trump’s top offensive in 2020 — more difficult.

Biden has also promised $2,000 stimulus checks to the citizens, a measure the current Senate refused to vote on.

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