On Tuesday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) was re-elected to a full six-year term, defeating Republican challenger Herschel Walker despite the latter’s embrace of “culture war” issues and anti-LGBTQ attacks in the final weeks before the state’s Dec. 6 runoff election.

Warnock ended up beating Walker, a former NFL star, by about three points, 51.4% to 48.6%. He also improved on his margin of victory compared to two years ago, when he unseated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler by a narrow two-point margin to win an abbreviated two-year term. Loeffler had previously been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in December 2019 to fill the seat once held by Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired due to health concerns.

Warnock’s victory gives Democrats a 51-49 edge in the U.S. Senate, marking the first time since 1934 that an incumbent president’s political party had not lost a single Senate seat it held prior to the election.

The increased margin will have several benefits for Democrats, giving them majorities, rather than having an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, on each committee, meaning that Democrats can more easily approve legislation and nominations.

With evenly split committees, if the parties deadlock on a vote, the majority party must take time-consuming steps to discharge the bill or nomination and set up a floor vote, reports CNN. This has particular implications for judicial nominations, which have been slow-walked by Republicans under the 50-50 Senate, despite there being, at current count, 89 unfilled vacancies on courts ranging from circuit courts of appeal down to district-level courts. An outright majority would also make it easier to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, if one were to arise in the next two years.

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The Democratic majority also gives the majority party — at least hypothetically — a spare vote to pass legislation, meaning they either do not require Vice President Kamala Harris to break tie votes, or do not require unanimous support from the full Democratic caucus to pass legislation, allowing them to shed a single senator and utilize Harris’s tie-breaking vote to push through various initiatives.

The Georgia Senate race went to a runoff after neither Warnock nor Walker managed to win more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 8 general election. Warnock finished first, but a third-party candidate, Chase Oliver, a gay Libertarian, won 2% of the vote, keeping both competitors under the 50% threshold.

But Walker’s campaign was also marred by verbal gaffes and allegations regarding his personal relationships, including accusations of domestic violence and claims that he allegedly paid for two separate girlfriends to obtain abortions, despite his stated opposition to abortion rights. Walker denied the allegations against him, but nonetheless unperformed a fellow Republican, Gov. Brian Kemp, as well as several other Republican statewide candidates, making the Senate race much more competitive.

With most public polls showing Warnock in the lead for weeks prior to Tuesday’s runoff, Walker seized upon divisive social issues in an attempt to excite Republican base voters and paint Warnock as “extreme” or out-of-step with Georgians. As such, both the Walker campaign, and unaffiliated GOP-leaning groups, frequently employed anti-LGBTQ arguments or attacks criticizing Warnock’s voting record.

For instance, Walker aired ads, featuring University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, attacking Warnock for voting to block a ban on transgender athletes, in which Gaines — a former opponent of transgender NCAA Division I champion Lia Thomas — complained that she was forced to compete against a “biological male.” Walker, who appeared alongside Gaines in those ads, accused Warnock of being “afraid to stand up for female athletes.”

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On the campaign trail, Walker frequently mused about LGBTQ issues, especially transgender issues, during his stump speeches. He would go on long tangents about whether Democrats could define what constitutes a woman, pronoun usage as part of “wokeness” being forced on members of the military, and whether men can get pregnant. During one appearance, he speculated that transgender children may not go to heaven after they die, because “Jesus may not recognize [them],” ostensibly after they’d pursued gender-affirming surgery and treatments. 

Walker also appeared on the campaign trail with North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a strict social conservative with his own history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Robinson had previously given sermons as a guest speaker in North Carolina churches, comparing gay people to cow feces, maggots and flies, claiming that they do not serve “any purpose” in society, claiming that straight couples are “superior” to gay couples because of their ability to procreate without artificial assistance, and alleging that LGBTQ people are seeking to “indoctrinate” youth into embracing LGBTQ rights.

Given the heated anti-LGBTQ rhetoric of recent months, coming on the heels of a shooting inside an LGBTQ nightclub that killed five people in Colorado Springs, as well as other threats directed against LGBTQ venues, LGBTQ advocates celebrated Warnock’s victory and Walker’s loss, attributing the outcome to voters who are supportive of pro-LGBTQ equality measures.

Regarding his own record on LGBTQ issues, Warnock has recognized the celebration of Pride Month, condemned bullying of LGBTQ and transgender children, expressed support for the Equality Act — a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill — and opposed religious exemptions seeking to carve out a right to discriminate against LGBTQ people. 

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Warnock voted for cloture on the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill requiring federal and state recognition for legally performed same-sex marriages, in mid-November, allowing debate on the bill, and co-sponsored the “Refund Equality Act,” which allows same-sex couples to amend past tax returns to file their taxes as married.

“Georgia’s voters have spoken once again and chosen a leader who has demonstrated a commitment to equality,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement. “Sen. Warnock has skillfully and compassionately spoken up and acted to advance LGBTQ equality throughout his public life, including and especially as a faith leader.

“Voters in state after state sent an unmistakable message through the midterm elections that every elected official must now heed: protect and restore basic human rights and reject harmful rhetoric against LGBTQ people,” Ellis added. “An overwhelming majority of Americans support laws to protect LGBTQ people and our rights to not be discriminated against and targeted for violence. The expanded pro-equality majority in the Senate must also move to increase freedoms and protections so every LGBTQ American has a greater chance at safety and success, in Georgia and coast to coast.”

Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the organization was “delighted to congratulate Warnock on his victory.

“Senator Warnock is one of our strongest partners in advancing the cause of LGBTQ+ equality. He understands that every person in Georgia and across the United States deserves to live their lives knowing that they are respected for who they are and free from the pain of bigotry and discrimination,” Robinson said in a statement.

“It should not be lost on anyone that Senator Warnock’s political opponents spent millions of dollars attacking him for his support for our community. They have failed. Georgians rejected these reckless attacks tonight,” Robinson added. “We look forward to continuing our work with Senator Warnock to ensure that every LGBTQ+ person in Georgia, and throughout this country, is treated with dignity.”