Herschel Walker Raises More Than $3M on First Day of Georgia Senate Runoff

Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker raised more than $3 million on the first day of his runoff campaign last week against Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The Hill reports that the former University of Georgia running back brought in another $1 million last Thursday, the second day of the campaign. Neither candidate reached the 50% threshold for victory in last week’s midterm elections, meaning the two Black men will head to a runoff election on the second anniversary of the Capitol Riot, Jan 6.

The race has brought out the big dollars and top lawmakers from both sides. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has thrown his support behind the former Dallas Cowboy, blasting his critics and accusing them of trying to destroy Walker to “deter young people of color” from joining the Republican Party.

CNN political pundit Van Jones responded to Graham’s words by laughing, before laying into Walker.

“Well first of all he’s a nightmare to the children he has abandoned and done nothing for,” Jones said.

“He’s a nightmare for his own son who came out and said he lies all the time and shouldn’t be in office. If you’re a young Black person who wants to be a conservative, there’s a guy named Tim Scott I would direct you to if you want somebody in the Senate who you can look up to.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced it will invest $7 million into organizing efforts to support Warnock.

The Georgia Democratic Senator, who is a reverend at the same church Martin Luther King Jr. called home, has previous experience in runoff elections. He defeated former senator and former Atlanta Dream WNBA franchise owner Kelly Loeffler in a runoff in early 2021 that gave Democrats control of the Senate, along with Sen. Jon Ossofff’s victory against David Perdue.

While Walker received support from Georgia’s conservative base to make it to the runoff, his support in the state was significantly lower than other top Republicans in Georgia including Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Business Insider reports the drop-off between Walker’s support and the support of Kemp and Raffensperger was especially notable in Atlanta’s suburbs, which have pushed Democratic gains in Georgia in recent years.