In the hotel where Abraham Lincoln kicked off his Civil War presidency, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. refined his most famous speech, dozens of organizations gathered this week with a common goal: to forge a historic coalition that would catapult conservatives to the forefront of early voting and election lawfare and expand their movement to Hispanics, Asians, union workers, and African-Americans fleeing the Democratic Party.
Read MoreTag: Faith and Freedom Coalition
Faith and Freedom Coalition Identifies Key Issues for Evangelical, Conservative Voters in 2024
Faith & Freedom Coalition executive director Timothy Head outlined what he believes are the key issues for faith-based voters in the state as the second Republican presidential debate, and the 2024 presidential election, in an interview with The Georgia Star News on Friday.
Head told The Georgia Star News that Fulton County’s racketeering case against former President Donald Trump looms large over Georgia’s political landscape, likely drawing even more Republicans in The Peach State to the former president, but added that the economy will likely be the single, largest issue in voters’ minds as they cast ballots in 2024.
Read MoreEvangelical Leader Says GOP Candidates Need to ‘Grow a Backbone’ on Abortion
Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) Founder Ralph Reed said that some GOP candidates need to “grow a backbone” on the issue of abortion, according to an Associated Press article published Friday.
FFC’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., from June 22-24 falls over the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and dismissed the idea of a constitutional right to abortion. Reed said that in light of the timing of the two events he wanted to give the candidates a “bit of a testosterone booster shot” to encourage them to be more aggressive on the issue of abortion, according to the AP.
Read More1.6 Million Ballots in Election Day Turnout Weren’t Enough for Herschel Walker to Catch Sen. Warnock
Georgians cast 3.5 million ballots in the Senate runoff, including 1.9 million early and absentee ballots and 1.6 million votes on Election Day. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said more election day votes were cast in the runoff than on election day in the general election.
That should have equaled a win for Herschel Walker, according to Republican estimates on Monday that suggested turnout of just one million election day votes would be enough for him to cancel Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) early vote lead. Instead, Warnock won 1.8 million total votes and Walker 1.7 million — 51.37 percent to 48.63 percent, according to unofficial results.
Read MoreSen. Warnock Projected to Defeat Herschel Walker
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is projected to win by multiple media outlets; at press time, Warnock led Herschel Walker 50.81 percent to 49.19 percent with 95.6 percent of counties and precincts reporting. However, that margin is expected to widen with many of the Atlanta-area counties only partially reporting results and rural counties having largely complete their reporting.
In Georgia, a candidate can request a recount if the race margin is less than or equal to 0.5 percent, according to a state website. In a short speech after the race was called, Walker acknowledged the results and thanked his supporters, telling them to never stop dreaming and believing in America.
“There’s no excuses in life, and I’m not going to make any excuses now, because we put up one heck of a fight. And that’s what we got to do, because this is much bigger than Herschel Walker,” he said.
Read MoreHerschel Walker’s Million-Man March Through Georgia on Game Day
Strong turnout in Republican areas at the end of early voting in the Senate runoff in Georgia is giving conservatives hope that Herschel Walker can close a 200,000 vote gap Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is estimated to hold. For Walker to win, Election-Day turnout, expected to favor the Republican, needs to hit at least one million votes.
On the day of the November 2022 General Election, about 1.5 million voters turned out, according to Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia branch of the nonpartisan Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“Obviously, you know, it’d be a miracle to get that same 1.5 million out, so you’re probably not going to do that. So the magic number in order to make up the margin that can be ascertained for Raphael Warnock, it’s got to be at least a million voters to come out” Parnell said, noting that would give Walker and Warnock even chances.
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