Tag: Senator Raphael Warnock

Raffensperger Calls Warnock ‘Election Denier’ in WSJ Op-Ed

Eric Burk

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) are trading blows in the media after Raffensperger’s Sunday Wall Street Journal op-ed “Raphael Warnock, Election Denier.”

“I have to spend a lot of time shooting down false claims about our elections in Georgia. Usually they come from losers. But sometimes even victorious candidates make false claims about our elections,” Raffensperger wrote, placing Warnock alongside Stacy Abrams and former President Donald Trump.

Read More

Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer Criticizes McConnell, NRSC After Walker Loss

Eric Burk

Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) after Herschel Walker lost the Georgia Senate runoff. Shafer said the NRSC didn’t provide enough support, according to an internal Republican National Committee (RNC) email chain obtained by Politico.

“Tuesday was a tough day in Georgia. Herschel was massively outspent, maybe 3 to 1 in a four week period of time and still held his own,” Shafer said in an email sent the day after the election.

“We used our RNC transfer dollars for the ground game and were forced to raise money from entirely within the state for our critically important mail program. Two weeks out, we were $2.5 million short when I sent what was for me an embarrassing email begging the other state parties for help,” he said.

Read More

1.6 Million Ballots in Election Day Turnout Weren’t Enough for Herschel Walker to Catch Sen. Warnock

Eric Burk

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 More

Sen. Warnock Projected to Defeat Herschel Walker

Eric Burk

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 More

Herschel Walker’s Million-Man March Through Georgia on Game Day

Eric Burk

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.

Read More

Warnock Slightly Ahead in Three Polls

Eric Burk

Three new polls released in the final days of early voting show Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) a little ahead of Herschel Walker, although Walker is within the margin of error in two of the three polls.

Emerson College found Warnock ahead, 49 percent to 47 percent, with 4 percent undecided out of 888 very likely voters and those who already voted. That poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error and was conducted November 28 through 30 on behalf of The Hill. SurveyUSA found Warnock at 50 percent to Walker’s 46 percent and 4 percent undecided out of 1,214 likely voters. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error and was conducted November 26 through 30 on behalf of WXIA-TV. Both polls were published Thursday.

On Friday, CNN published the results of a SSRS poll finding Warnock at 52 percent and Walker at 48 percent among 1,184 likely voters, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. That poll was conducted from November 25 through 29.

Read More

Outgoing Georgia Lieutenant Governor Duncan Says He Didn’t Vote for Either Herschel Walker or Raphael Warnock

Eric Burk

Outgoing Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (R) told CNN on Wednesday that he couldn’t bring himself to vote for either Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) or Herschel Walker.

“I showed up to vote this morning. I was one of those folks who got in line and spent about an hour waiting. And you know, it was the most disappointing ballot I’ve ever stared at my entire life since I started voting. You know, I had two candidates that I just couldn’t find anything that made sense for me to put my vote behind and so I walked out of that ballot box, showing up to vote, but not voting for either one of them,” Duncan said.

Read More

Warnock Continues to Hold Advantage in Fundraising And Spending

Eric Burk

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) continues to out-raise and out-spend Republican Herschel Walker in the race for Senate, having $29.7 million cash on hand against Walker’s $9.8 million by a November 16 report.

Outside spending is also playing a big role: Open Secrets reports about $60 million in spending for both candidates in the runoff alone, and on Wednesday, pro-Warnock group Georgia Honor announced a $5.83 million ad buy featuring an attack ad aimed at Walker, according to NBC. The same day, another pro-Warnock group Majority Forward announced $11 million in spending on a massive door-knocking operation ahead of the December 6 vote, according to The Washington Post.

Read More

John Fredericks Analysis: RNC Incompetence in Georgia Run-Off Fuels Huge Warnock Lead

John Fredericks

ROME, Georgia – Recent polls for the December 6th runoff election between incumbent Raphael Warnock (D) and Trump-endorsed former Georgia Heisman-Trophy-winner Herschel Walker (R) show a very close race. Early voter turnout is unusually high on both sides with over 468,000 in-person votes by early Tuesday, and leaders of the…

Read More

‘Mega MAGA Bus Tour’ Bus Tour Launches to Support Walker, Lift Republican Turnout

Eric Burk

A “Mega MAGA Georgia Bus Tour” to boost Republican turnout in the runoff election between Herschel Walker and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a continuation of GOP efforts to get supporters to embrace early voting. The tour has nine scheduled stops beginning Tuesday morning on the outskirts of Atlanta before heading north, and organizers confirmed that Walker will attend some stops, although specific details are still pending.

The tour comes after the same organizers supported Trump-endorsed former Senator David Perdue in his efforts to primary Governor Brian Kemp, who easily defeated Perdue. That’s left some antipathy in the Georgia GOP at a time when the party can’t afford to lose either moderates or MAGA voters. Kemp has appeared at rallies for Walker, and both are supporting Walker while maintaining distance from each other. Fredericks sees the tour as a chance for party unity.

Read More

Big Weekend Early Voting Turnout Seems Hopeful for Warnock but Republicans See Strong Monday Rural Turnout

Eric Burk

Georgia voters are turning out in high numbers for early voting in the runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Herschel Walker. 181,711 voters turned out over the weekend, including 166,325 early-in-person voters according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office updated early Monday morning.

The election started last week in some counties that opted into earlier voting including Saturday, but all counties were required to begin early voting by Monday. Twitter pundits noted that many rural counties didn’t embrace the earlier start of voting, an apparent strategic blunder for Republicans who are trying to shift GOP voter culture to embrace early voting, placing Walker behind in the turnout battle. But Georgia Republicans expect their voters to make up for that with turnout going forward, reporting strong rural turnout on Monday.

Read More

Georgia Republicans Push Their Voters to Early Voting

Eric Burk

Georgia Republicans are pushing their supporters to embrace early voting in the December 6 runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Herschel Walker. Early voting began Wednesday in DeKalb County, and some other counties will have early voting on Saturday after a Georgia Supreme Court decision, but all counties must offer early voting beginning November 28.

“If you are a conservative you should VOTE EARLY IN PERSON in Georgia. Don’t trust the Election Day madness. Learn from Maricopa and vote early and securely,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted Tuesday.

“Absolutely right,” Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer responded.

Read More

Spalding County Sheriff Presents Herschel Walker with a Sheriff’s Office Badge as a Token of Thanks

Addison Basurto

Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix, presented Georgia GOP Senatorial nominee Herschel Walker, with an official Sheriff’s office badge as a token of thanks for the candidate’s support of law enforcement.

“Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix made @HerschelWalker an honorary deputy to thank him for his commitment to backing the blue. #gapol” Walker campaign spokeswoman Mallory Blount said on Friday.

Read More