But critically, there’s another candidate on the ballot in November, Libertarian Chase Oliver, pulling in a few points of support in some surveys. While Warnock is leading in a number of polls, he’s not clearing 50 percent in many. And in Georgia, if no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the top two proceed to a head-to-head Dec. 6 runoff — the same circumstances that saw the state’s voters tip control of the Senate to Democrats last year.

A repeat of those exact same circumstances would, of course, depend on the results of other races around the country. But the battle for control of the Senate is finely balanced between both parties right now — and the mere thought of the chamber hanging in the balance well after the November election is filling some Georgia organizers with dread.

“Nobody wants a runoff. Nobody wants a runoff,” Sukari Johnson, chair of Clayton County Democratic Party, repeated with emphasis. “Because it’s very difficult for people to come back out, and at that point you’re spending time and money to get people to come back out. And nobody wants to do that after November.”