With the control of the Senate on the line, Democrats in Georgia, and Black voters in particular, turned out in record numbers on Tuesday and sent Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock—only the second Black senator to be popularly elected in the South—to Congress. But the Black voters didn’t carry the vote alone: Roughly 30 percent of white voters cast their ballots against the Republicans, far better than Democrats have performed with white voters in neighboring states. And growing Asian and Latino populations in Georgia also helped deliver a historic victory. Advertisement To find out if this outcome was a harbinger of more significant changes to come in the Deep South, Slate spoke with Vincent Hutchings, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan who studies elections, voting behavior, and African American politics. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.