Only weeks before their runoff election, Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and the Rev. Raphael Warnock went one-on-one in debate Sunday night.

The debate was sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club.

Both candidates referenced lines used by their campaigns in ads against the other. Loeffler, more than a dozen times, referred to her Democratic opponent as “radical, liberal Raphael Warnock.”

A number of times, Loeffler passed on answering the question as to whether Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, including the vote tally in Georgia.

Warnock several times made the point to say he would put “ordinary people” at the center of his policymaking if he’s elected to the Senate.

When asked about whether he would support “court packing” - expanding the U.S. Supreme Court - Warnock side-stepped the question.

Earlier Sunday, Democrat Jon Ossoff faced an empty podium in his Senate debate. Republican incumbent David Perdue declined to appear.

“It shows an astonishing arrogance and sense of entitlement for Georgia’s senior U.S. senator to believe he shouldn’t have to debate at a moment like this in our history,” Ossoff said, criticizing Perdue for avoiding the debate as the coronavirus pandemic rages.

Perdue’s campaign sent a statement to say Ossoff “lost a debate against himself.”

Cox Media Group