Attendees at an exclusive Herschel Walker Atlanta fundraiser for his GOP U.S. Senate primary campaign say the Georgia native and UGA/NFL football star is off and running with the political football. Appearing Tuesday with his wife Julie Blanchard, Walker declared he has “always been a Georgian,” that he intends to visit all 159 Georgia counties and that some major endorsements are coming soon.
Walker must first beat three other Republicans in the May primary to capture the Republican Party senatorial nomination. Once over that hurdle, he then must defeat Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock to become Georgia’s next U.S. senator.
Herschel Walker
The longtime friend of former President Donald Trump told donors that he has many Georgia relatives and friends, many of whom voted for Warnock. “But they won’t be voting for him now,” he pledged. His wife spoke briefly, noting she considers herself a Georgian, she does business here, they have an Atlanta home and that she has a Georgia driver’s license— something, she said, the Atlanta newspaper won’t tell readers.
Walker touched on various policy issues, especially emphasizing the need for “law and order” to curb rising crime and rioting in major cities. The Republican decried “cancel culture” by the political Left that seeks to ruin careers and lives of opponents, said he is not a part of either political party’s “establishment” and wants to work to bring people together.
Even though Walker enjoys high statewide name recognition, he only recently announced and must work to become competitive with Warnock’s impressive campaign treasury. According to opensecrets.org, Warnock won his January 2022 runoff campaign after raising $125 million, and spending $103 million. In comparison, his Republican opponent, then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler raised $92 million and spent $71 million.
Ahead of the 2022 race, according to an August 20 article by opensecrets.org writer Tara Sater, Warnock has raised $32.1 million, but some of those contributions may have been come in after the January runoff campaign. Around $17 million, or nearly half, of Warnock’s funds come from small dollar donations (individual donations under $200 dollars). And the Democrat had $10.5 million in cash at the end of June.
