Democrat in critical Senate runoff in Georgia says 'Schumer’s name is certainly not on the ballot'

The Democrat challenging Georgia GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff race that will help determine control of the Senate says the contest is not about the chamber’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer. 

“Chuck Schumer’s name is certainly not on the ballot,” challenger Raphael Warnock said Sunday on CNN. 

The Loeffler-Warnock race is just one of two in Georgia that will go to a runoff election in January, after no candidate on Nov. 3 received over 50% of the vote.

The other Georgia race is incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue vs. Democrat Jon Ossof.

The GOP currently holds 50 Senate seats. If Democrats sweep the Georgia races, the parties will be tied at 50 seats apiece, giving the vice president a tie-breaker vote.

With control of the Senate at stake, the race has become a national contest with Washington and outside campaign money pouring in, while Warnock tries to make the focus on his campaign issues that matter to Georgia voters. 

“I will tell you what is on the ballot," Warnock, a reverend, continued on CNN, “health care is on the ballot  – access to affordable health care. We have got 500,000 Georgians in the Medicaid gap. We have got 1.8 million Georgians with preexisting conditions."

Warnock also responded to Loeffler campaign saying he attended a speech that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro gave at a church Warnock belonged to in 1995. 

"I had nothing to do with that program,” he said. “I did not make any decisions regarding the program." 

Warnock also added that he had "never met the Cuban dictator" and was "not connected to him."