The Georgia Senate runoff election was called at about 9:00 p.m. yesterday, with GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss winning a second term in the upper chamber and Democrats' hopes of 60 Senate seats vanished, until 2010 at least.

With 97% of precincts reporting as of this morning, Chambliss held a 57.4%-42.6% lead over Democratic challenger Jim Martin. It was common knowledge that turning out one's base was key to winning the runoff, and it appears Chambliss did a better job of it.

Chambliss received 650,000 less votes yesterday than he did on Nov. 4, while Martin received 850,000 less votes. In DeKalb County, a heavily-Democratic county, Martin received some 95,000 less votes than he did Nov. 4, while Chambliss lost only 18,000 votes. Martin won the county by 6 points less than he did on Nov. 4.

In Gwinnett, another large Atlanta-area county, Chambliss won 64%-36% yesterday, after carrying the county by just 10 points (53%-43%) on Nov. 4.