Politicos Spin Close Warnock-Walker Georgia Senate Race

It’s still early in the general election campaign, deep in the summer, when people aren’t too concerned about who should fill Georgia’s Senate seat.

Should it be the incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock, in the position just a year and a half following a controversial runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021? Or should it be Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker, a legendary football great and political novice? People might wait until after Labor Day to think about it.

It’s a big decision. The dynamics of the U.S. Senate, now divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, hangs in the balance.

The polls show Warnock slightly ahead. A recent University of Georgia poll shows him ahead of Walker by a margin of 3 percentage points, 46 to 43. That can be spun differently, depending on who’s doing the spinning.

“Warnock is getting traction,” said Charles Bullock, University of Georgia political science professor. “His poll numbers are rising. Polling shows most people believe him to be trustworthy. A plurality doesn’t believe Herschel Walker is.”

Bullock said those perceptions have been driven by the TV ads put out by Warnock’s well-funded campaign. They show Walker saying things years ago and different things now. “They’re fact-checking right in front of you.”

For Walker, Bullock said, this is a new experience. “For 40 years, he was a folk hero. Now for the first time, efforts have been made to go through and see what he has said—things which in the past were largely applause lines. He’s a first-time candidate.”

Former NFL player Herschel Walker speaks by video feed during the largely virtual 2020 Republican National Convention broadcast from Washington, on Aug. 24, 2020. Walker has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump for the U.S. Senate. (2020 Republican National Convention/Handout via Reuters)

Marci McCarthy, Republican chairwoman for DeKalb County