ATLANTA — Both U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and the Rev. Raphael Warnock dodged questions during their U.S. Senate debate but were quick to criticize each other.

In the second of Georgia’s nationally broadcast U.S. Senate debates Sunday, Loeffler, a Republican appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, and Warnock, pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, historic church of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., traded jabs for an hour as they vie for a seat that could decide the majority hold of the U.S. Senate.

Just a day after President Donald Trump visited Valdosta to rally supporters to vote for Republican candidates, Loeffler was peppered about where her allegiance lies: with the President — who claims the election was “rigged” against him — or Georgia’s Republican state officials who say the election was fair.

“The President has every right to every legal recourse and that’s what’s taking place, but I’ve called for investigations and now there’s 250 investigations open here in Georgia,” she said. “But the President was also clear that Georgians need to come out and vote for David Perdue and myself, because of what’s at stake in this election.”

While there are open investigations into a handful of votes in Georgia’s election, elections officials have reiterated they have found “no evidence of widespread fraud.” Loeffler would not concede that Trump lost the election during the debate nor comment on the feud between the outgoing president and her close ally, Kemp.

Warnock has faced a barrage of attacks from his Republican opponent about lines in his past sermons as well as skepticism that as a senator it would be a hard task for him to uphold the separation of church and state.

“My whole life has been about service. It is why I entered into the ministry and I am running for the United States Senate as a continuation of that life project,” he said echoing campaign statements.

The Democrat accused Loeffler of pushing “false narratives” about him using his faith teachings and taking sermon points out of context. 

“It’s clear to me that my opponent is going to work really hard, spending millions of dollars of her own money trying to push a narrative about me,” he said, “because she’s clearly decided that she does not have a case to be made for why she should stay in that seat.”

But Loeffler appealed to voters that Warnock does not align with Georgia voters, although the state backed a Democratic presidential candidate.

“I cannot stand by and let Georgians not know who my opponent is, how radical his views are and how he would fundamentally change our country,” Loeffler said. “He’s out of step with Georgia’s values.”

Both candidates found common ground on one issue: the desperate need for Americans to take a COVID-19 vaccine when one is approved and becomes available. Georgia’s top public health officials are up against the challenge of convincing a skeptical public to take the vaccine.

“I could not be more proud of what we’ve done this year to deliver (COVID-19) relief, but also get cures, vaccines and therapies that are effective,” Loeffler said. “So I’m going to encourage my fellow Georgians to stay safe, to get that vaccine.”

But vaccines marked the only bipartisan moment throughout the debate.

Warnock targeted Loeffler for allegations of insider trading of stocks after a closed-door briefing in the early months of the pandemic. The allegations were dropped, Loeffler pointed out, and then demanded Warnock denounce Marxism and Socialism.

“Yes or no: did Donald Trump lose the recent presidential election?” Warnock asked his Republican opponent which she did not answer.

But Warnock flat-out declined to answer a moderator’s question about packing the Supreme Court to offset Trump’s recent appointments and whether or not there should be term limits in the country’s highest court.

“I’m really not focused on it,” he said.