In a highly watched and competitive race for U.S. Senate in Georgia, Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican retired football player Herschel Walker.
The re-election of Warnock means that every incumbent Senator who ran in 2022 was re-elected. Democrats increased their majority in the Senate from 50 to 50, with the Vice President breaking the tie in favor of Democrats to a 51 to 49 Democratic edge. These numbers include two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Democrats picked up an open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, where incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey did not run for re-election in part due to a public feud with former President Donald Trump.
With 98.67% of the vote in, Warnock had 1,817,465 votes (51.38% of the vote), and Herschel Walker had 1,719,868 votes (48.62% of the vote).
Republicans did generally well in Georgia in statewide races. Still, the power of incumbency combined with a very negative campaign with many personal attacks was too much for Walker to overcome.
In the Governor’s race last month, Republican incumbent Brian Kemp had 2,110,328 votes (53.43%) to Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams’ 1,811,471 (45.86%). Warnock, when all the final votes eventually come in, will beat Abrams’s totals by just a few thousand votes; but Walker, however, is trailing Kemp by nearly 400,000 votes.
Walker’s underperformance compared to other high-profile Republicans on the statewide ballot in Georgia can be partially attributed to the many allegations levied against Walker. These include questions about his residency (he has a home in Dallas) and allegations that he (a pro-life candidate) paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion. There were additional allegations by a former girlfriend that he abused her, and many of his children claimed he was not a good father. There were also concerns that he lacked the political experience and intellect to serve effectively in the Senate. Democrats also outspent Republicans in Georgia, particularly in the last month of the race.
Warnock, the Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, had his own allegations, including that he tried to run over his ex-wife (he did run over her foot), as well as questions about how a pastor can be pro-abortion, but Warnock ultimately prevailed.
This is the second time in two years that Warnock has won a closely contested U.S. Senate race in Georgia. Warnock beat incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the 2020 Senate race.
The race has implications for the 2024 Presidential election. Former President Trump is a close friend of Walker’s. Walker played for him at the failed USFL’s New Jersey Generals in the 1980s and was Trump’s endorsed candidate in the Republican primary. Trump held several rallies in Georgia before the general election for Walker, while former President Barack Obama campaigned for Warnock. President Joe Biden avoided campaigning heavily in Georgia as there were concerns that a heavy Biden presence might get out the vote for Republicans, who otherwise did not enthusiastically embrace Walker. Trump also alienated many Georgia Republicans by endorsing Kemp’s primary opponent.
The Alabama Republican Party was heavily involved in the Georgia Senate race, with the Mighty Alabama Strike Force making several trips to Georgia to campaign for Walker.
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