It's coming down to the wire in Georgia's crucial Senate race, which may well determine control of Congress' upper chamber -- again. The incumbent is Democrat Raphael Warnock, who won a runoff election in January 2021, in which hundreds of thousands of Republican voters sat home, believing their votes wouldn't count. Warnock has been a lock-step liberal Democrat, not distinguishing himself as an independent-minded purple state Senator in any meaningful way. His challenger is Republican Herschel Walker, a football legend for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and a Heisman Trophy winner.
In a one-on-one interview with Walker on my radio program, I asked him about the steep learning curve of being a first-time candidate in a race with such high stakes. I also asked about the top issues Georgians are talking about as he meets them on the trail, about his opponent's record, and about comments made by Democrats' gubernatorial nominee who called Georgia the worse state in the country in which to live.
On that last point, Walker hit Stacey Abrams hard -- responding to her point and tying her to both his own opponent and to President Biden ("cut from the same cloth"):
.@HerschelWalker Slams Raphael Warnock For Voting With Biden ‘96%’ Of The Timehttps://t.co/AYvotvRGv1
— The Guy Benson Show (@GuyBensonShow) September 14, 2022
Here's the full interview. Walker has surged in this race in the last few weeks, pulling narrowly ahead in a number of polls. It's an interesting match-up in that it features a sitting Senator who won a special election just last year, versus a statewide icon with no political experience at all. Both men have major assets, but both have serious vulnerabilities. Republicans are really coming after Warnock on one of his, which surfaced in 2020, too:
This https://t.co/jNfjJ2COJZ web ad does not mess around. It takes #GASen Raphael Warnock (D) to task for the child abuse scandal at his summer camp that Warnock was arrested for trying to cover up.pic.twitter.com/mdwohnus2o
— RRH Elections (@RRHElections) September 14, 2022
After quite a bit of back and forth, the two campaigns have agreed to a critical debate on October 14. Warnock is a smooth-talking pastor (misleadingly smooth, per his ex-wife) who is perceived to have an advantage in this sort of setting. Walker's task, having been criticized for running a low-profile campaign, is to demonstrate plausibility as a US Senator, rebutting detractors who call him a know-nothing. If he can clear that bar, he'll have a real shot at winning the seat, which would represent a GOP gain. Control of the Senate will likely boil down to a small handful of races. A Walker victory would greatly improve Mitch McConnell's chances of taking the majority leader title back from Chuck Schumer. On that score, I'll leave you with new polling from two other key races:
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In new Marquette Law School Poll, 49% of likely voters in WI support Republican incumbent Johnson in the Senate race and 48% support Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes. In August, among likely voters, Barnes was supported by 52% and Johnson by 45%. #mulawpoll
— MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) September 14, 2022
?? NEVADA POLL By Emerson
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 14, 2022
SEN
(R) Adam Laxalt 42% (+1)
(D) Catherine Cortez Masto 41%
GOV
(R) Joe Lombardo 40% (=)
(D) Steve Sisolak 40%
GEN BALLOT
Republicans 46% (+3)
Democrats 43%
PRES
(R) Donald Trump 43% (+3)
(D) Joe Biden 40%
1,000 LV | 08/08-10https://t.co/x7yRGSIk07 pic.twitter.com/AVsjWkPpnS
Team McConnell is leaning hard into the cycle, trying to help fund GOP campaigns that have broadly been lagging far behind Democrats in fundraising:
After kicking into high gear last week, Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund has spent $46 million and is now the biggest spending SuperPAC of the 2022 cycle. pic.twitter.com/2E8dgsK6MX
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) September 14, 2022
I'll leave you with this. Keep an eye on this dynamic:
Working-class Latino voters are shifting toward Republicans, driven by economic concerns. “The feeling that the Democratic Party almost by default is going to have the Hispanic vote—it’s not like that anymore.” https://t.co/sV2j0YlSat
— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) September 14, 2022
