Georgia’s Sterling criticized over TV appearance during state's vote tally
Warnock is projected to defeat Loeffler, according to Fox News' Decision Desk
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling, who has pushed back against President Trump’s claims of voter fraud, raised eyebrows on Tuesday for offering election punditry while votes from the state's runoff elections were being tallied.
Sterling, a Republican and the voting system implementation manager in the Peach State, reportedly engaged in predictions while seemingly calling both races for the Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff during the broadcast.
"The GA elections guy should NOT be on CNN engaging in predictions and playing pundit," Kevin Madden, an influential pundit, posted on Twitter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GEORGIA RUNOFFS PROMPT CELEBRITY REACTIONS AS VOTES ARE COUNTED
Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's Voting System Implementation manager, speaks during a press conference addressing Georgia's alleged voter irregularities at the Georgia State Capitol on January 04, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"Trump nemesis @GabrielSterling pretty much just called both races for the Dems on CNN, and he seemed to enjoy it," added journalist Dan Fagin.
Sterling predicted that Democrats would likely take the lead when the results from Georgia's DeKalb County came in, according to a tweet from CNN producer Ryan Struyk.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was also asked who would be to blame if one or both of the Republican candidates lost their seats in the Senate.
"Well I'll speak for outside of my role working for the state, this is a personal opinion that'll fall squarely on the shoulders of President Trump and his actions since November 3," Sterling said.
Sterling had announced that he was voting for Sen. Kelly Loeffler and former Sen. David Perdue -- both Republicans -- as polls were set to open.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WARNOCK PROJECTED TO DEFEAT LOEFFLER IN GEORGIA RUNOFF
"As much as this may disappoint some, please join me in voting for Senators Perdue and Loeffler," Sterling tweeted minutes before polls opened on Election Day. "A divided government will serve Americans best right now."
Warnock is projected to defeat Loeffler, in one of the two crucial Senate runoffs in Georgia, according to Fox News' Decision Desk.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Loeffler encouraged her supporters to "keep fighting" early Wednesday, as she refused to concede her Senate runoff election despite her opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, claiming victory.
Sterling later responded to reports that Chatham County was done counting votes for the night, which raised suspicions among some Republicans.
"Chatham County didn’t just stop. They completed the counting of everything they have in. That includes Election Day, Advanced, & all of the absentees they had in. The last left will be the absentee by mail that came in today," he tweeted on Tuesday night.
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Georgia's other runoff -- between Perdue and Ossoff -- was too close to call, as of early Wednesday.
Fox News' Paul Conner and Sam Dorman contributed to this report