GOP’s Georgia Chances Dwindle as Democrat Takes Lead in US Senate Runoff

  1. The Republican Party’s hopes that its nominee, Herschel Walker, could still win the US Senate race in Georgia in the December 6 runoff are “fading.”

Meanwhile his rival, Democrat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, is increasingly in the lead, according to a recent report from Politico. 

Georgia Republicans Hoping for Miracle

Neither Warnock nor Walker could clinch the seat in the regular midterm elections last month, as none received more than 50% of all votes.

The Democrat incumbent on November 8 got 49.4% of the votes – or 1,943,737, while the Republican challenger was a close second with 48.5% – or 1,907,272 votes.

Even though the Republicans are still “hope for a surprise” with Herschel Walker’s candidacy, their mood is getting grimmer by the day as the December 6 runoff is approaching.


Why is Warnock Winning?

At the same time, Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign has picked up momentum, even if a Walker victory remains a possibility.

According to Politico, however, it is the Democrat who is going into the runoff as a “slight favorite” to win what would be his first six-year term in the US Senate. Warnock became a member of the Senate in January 2021 after winning a by-election.

The report quotes Jason Shepherd, a former GOP chair in Georgia’s Cobb County, who notes the Republican hopes of a Herschel Walker win don’t seem to have much basis.

Shepherd says the lots of “hope and faith” on the Republican side for the Georgia runoff may only seem justified because “it’s the Christmas season.”

A public opinion poll by CNN and SSRS released last week showed 52% support for Warnock vs. 48% for Walker.

The survey found that independent voters likely to vote in the Georgia US Senate runoff supported Warnock 61 to 36.

Walker Outspent and ‘Out-Campaigned’

Over the weekend, the Democrat incumbent campaigned at six events across Georgia.

He also gave a sermon at his old church, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he told the congregation, “Voting is a form of prayer.”

Warnock warned his supporters not to underestimate the runoff because of the advantage the Democrats have in early voting.

His Republican rival appeared at two events over the weekend. He spoke at only one of them: a rally in Loganville on Sunday, where he delivered a speech alongside Republican US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Politico claims that the Republican Party is already “betraying a loss of confidence” in Walker’s candidacy.

It points out that Georgia’s reelected GOP governor, Brian Kemp, didn’t campaign with Walker in the contest’s final weekend even though he had supported him and “loaned” him his electoral apparatus.

The report concludes that even allies “concede” in private that the former AFL legend’s victory chances are “slim,” as underscored by his “light” campaign schedule in the last few days and the fact that he is trailing Democrat incumbent Warnock in fundraising ($7.6 million to 3.7 million in ad spending in the last week alone).

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