The Jan. 5 runoff will determine the balance of power in the Senate

According to recent polls, It looks like the Georgia Senate runoff will be a very close race.

Rev. Raphael Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church who is vying for the Senate seat that Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler now holds, is slightly ahead of the incumbent. The official election day is  Jan. 5 but early voting numbers are coming in.

Read More: Church leaders call out Loeffler for religious attacks on Warnock

According to a poll done Monday night by Insider Advantage and FOX 5 Atlanta, Warnock is ahead of Loeffler by two points. The same poll shows 47 % of the votes are for Loeffler while 49 % are supporting the reverend. Just 3 % of voters are undecided.

The race between Senator David Perdue and the other Democratic contender, Jon Ossoff, is also close. According to the poll, Ossoff has 48 % of voters while Perdue holds 49 %.

Republicans are getting the white vote while Democratic candidates are seeing support from independent voters and those under 40, the poll shows.

Rev. Raphael Warnock has a slight edge on Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

Matt Towery, the founder of Insider Advantage who did the polling, says that early Democratic turnout is essential due to the potential of inclement weather.

“Atlanta is notorious for ice storms this time of year,” Towery said. “So that’s why both parties are pushing so hard for people to early vote and have them vote absentee.”

And Georgia residents have taken advantage of early voting.

As previously reported by theGrio, the state has seen a significant turnout prior to the election. Via absentee ballot and early in-person voting, 1,470,764 Georgia voters have already cast their vote.

Read More: Georgia sets new early voting record for Senate runoffs

Per Huff Post, to split the Senate evenly, Democrats need to win both seats. Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris is hitting the campaign trail in support of the Democratic candidates. After being sworn into office next month, if the Senate is evenly split between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Harris will have the tie-breaking vote, ultimately giving Democrats control of the chamber.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

The post Rev. Raphael Warnock pulls ahead of Kelly Loeffler in Georgia Senate poll appeared first on TheGrio.