Trump-Endorsed Herschel Walker Falls Behind Warnock In Georgia Senate Poll

Topline

A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) has a 10-point lead over Trump-endorsed Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the state’s Senate race later this year, as Walker grapples with repeated scandals.

Key Facts

Tangent

In a rematch of the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams—who narrowly lost the 2018 race to Kemp—are in a dead heat, according to Quinnipiac’s Wednesday poll. Both candidates tied at 48%, bringing Abrams up from a close-to-tied 49% to 47% hole in the January Quinnipiac survey.

Key Background

A former professional football running back and Heisman-winning University of Georgia player, Walker won the state’s Republican Senate primary in a landslide in May, taking in 68.2% of the vote. However, Walker has faced allegations of domestic violence, physical threats and stalking from multiple women—he denied some of the accusations and claimed he did not remember others, which he said was a result of his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder. In April, Walker called off a fundraiser event hosted by conservative filmmaker Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, whose Twitter profile picture was a pile of syringes assembled in the shape of a swastika. Earlier this month, Walker—who labels himself as a family man—also acknowledged he had three previously undisclosed children with women he was not married to, although Politico reported he “received resounding applause” at an evangelical campaign event less than a week later. Meanwhile, Warnock is running for reelection after just two years, following his defeat of Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a January 2021 special election runoff that helped give Democrats narrow control over the Senate.

Crucial Quote

Georgia’s Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan told ABC News’ Nightline in an interview last month that Walker “will have a better shot to win the general [election] if he addresses those issues that are out there from the past,” and that if he doesn’t, “it’s going to be a tough day in Georgia when we get to the November election, and we’re going to send, unfortunately, another Democrat to represent us as a U.S. senator.”

Further Reading

Georgia Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Reportedly Cancels Event After Backlash Over Swastika Image (Forbes)

Georgia Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Refuses To Resign From Presidential Council (Forbes)

Stacey Abrams Announces Second Run For Georgia Governor (Forbes)