The Georgia secretary of state’s office announced Wednesday that the Senate election was headed to a runoff since no candidate received over 50% of the vote.
According to the latest unofficial and incomplete returns, Warnock was at 49.4%, Walker at 48.5% and Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver at 2.1%.
This from foxnews.com.
Under Georgia law, if no candidate tops 50% of the vote in the general election, the two top vote-getters face off in a runoff, which this cycle is being held four weeks later on Dec. 6.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is the minister at Atlanta’s famed Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, narrowly edged Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s twin Jan. 5, 2021, Senate runoff elections.
His victory, along with now-democrat communist Sen. Jon Ossoff’s razor-thin win over GOP Sen. David Perdue, gave the communists the Senate majority.
A Walker campaign source told Fox News that they plan to hold rallies in large-population areas where turnout happens, with the aim to energize supporters of President Trump, “soft Republicans” and independents to vote in the runoff contest.
The source said that it would make sense for Trump and for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also extremely popular with conservatives nationwide, to stump with Walker in Georgia in the weeks ahead and added that the campaign is looking into the possibility of making that happen.
The source added that GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp may join Walker on the campaign trail as early as next week.
“I feel very good about getting Herschel across the finish line.”
Kemp won roughly 200,000 more votes in his election than Walker did in the Senate contest, and one concern for Republicans is that without the popular Georgia governor on the ballot again on Dec. 6, GOP turnout may suffer.
Also impacting the Georgia runoff is whether the results will determine which party controls the Senate majority.
With votes still being counted in the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, and those Senate races still too close to call, the Republicans hold a 49-48 edge over the [communists] in the 100-member chamber. If either party sweeps both of those contests, control of the Senate will be settled.
However, if the two parties split the contests in Arizona and Nevada, the Senate majority will be at stake in the Georgia runoff election.
In Arizona, communist Sen. Mark Kelly currently holds a slight lead over GOP challenger Blake Masters, while in Nevada, Republican challenger and former state attorney general Adam Laxalt maintains a razor-thin edge over communist Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
A veteran Georgia-based Republican strategist told Fox News:
If Senate control runs through Georgia, that could overshadow Herschel’s host of hiccups and foibles. If not, it’s a battle of likability and trust, which does not favor him.
A lot of Republicans held their noses and voted for Herschel, thinking Senate control was on the line. If that is no longer the case in a month, he’s gonna have a problem.
Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker holds a campaign rally in Cumming, Georgia, Oct. 27, 2022.
Walker, who won a Heisman Trophy and helped steer the University of Georgia to a college football national championship four decades ago, jumped into the GOP race to face off against Warnock in the summer of last year, after months of support and encouragement from President Trump to run for the Senate. It is Walker’s first run for office.
Of recent note, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who served in the Trump administration, suggested that President Trump must not campaign in Georgia runoff elections.
McEnany, on her show Outnumbered, said:
Republicans should direct all their energy to help Walker win his Senate runoff election on December 6.
McEnany further argued that many people have now started talking about the 2024 election:
[A]nd everyone should remember the 2022 elections are not over yet.
Republicans have an excellent opportunity to crush Biden’s agenda by winning the Georgia Senate race.
McEnany further established that Republicans need to be extremely strategic to win Georgia runoffs.
She continued:
So, considering the on-ground realities, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should be welcomed in Georgia for the runoff election campaign.
In addition to that, McEnany suggested:
President Trump should not announce his 2024 presidential election run at the moment. Trump is expected to make the announcement on November 15.
So, perhaps therein lies the rub. McEnany, and others, are concerned President Trump’s election issues will overshadow Herschel Walker’s election issues.
Walker was the overwhelming front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination thanks to his legendary status among many in Georgia and his immense, favorable name recognition in the Peach State. He was able to ignore the field of lesser-known primary rivals, declining to take part in debates as he focused his campaign on Warnock. Walker trounced his rivals in the May primary, but he quickly came under fire as the general election became underway.
Walker was heavily criticized both on the campaign trail and in ads over what communists call his numerous “bizarre or false statements,” and he also took fire over numerous reports that he overinflated the success of his businesses and academic record.
Final thoughts: I suggest President Trump and Governor DeSantis both set aside any differences, animosities, aspirations and/or strategic plans and go to Georgia for multiple-stop speaking tours. They each could crisscross the state and come into contact with hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters. Their assistance will provide much help for Herschel and for the Republicans achieving control of the Senate.
