It was just a matter of time before it happened. The shake-out from the airing of dirty laundry by those in Herschel Walker’s life is being fought off by equally dirty laundry from Raphael Warnock’s life. The November midterm elections are less than one month away and things have gotten nasty.
As we know, Herschel Walker’s ex-girlfriend came forward with an actual copy of a paper receipt for an abortion she had thirteen years ago. That was bad enough for a candidate who is presenting himself as pro-life and pro-family, with a particular focus on the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. Walker originally claimed he didn’t have any idea who this woman was until she produced the receipt and it was discovered she is the mother of his 10 year old son. In the midst of all this, Walker’s 23 year old son, a conservative ‘influencer’ on social media who was supporting his father’s campaign, reached his breaking point. He put up some videos on social media where he vented his anger and disgust with Walker, especially the hypocrisy of it all. All of this was understandable and obviously the young man is in a lot of pain. It was hard to watch, frankly.
At the time that Christian Walker’s videos went viral, it was pretty easy to assume that they would be fodder for campaign ads from the Raphael Warnock campaign. October can be a brutal month in political campaigns and if it takes exploiting the disintegration of a father-son relationship, well, so be it. Warnock, the Democrat incumbent, knows that he can very likely lose the election to Walker and the Georgia race is one of three that will determine if the Senate is controlled by Democrats or if it flips to a Republican majority. Team Warnock is desperate.
Enter the Senate Majority PAC. This is the principal Democrat organization supporting Democrats’ efforts to hold the Senate. It launched a 30-second ad through its Georgia Honor group. The ad is a part of a $36M buy to boost Warnock. The ad doesn’t directly speak to the Daily Beast’s reporting on Walker but it does refer to Christian’s problem with his father in the aftermath.
Team Warnock has used Walker’s personal history in previous ads.
It’s not the first attack ad featuring a Walker relative. Warnock and his allies unleashed a torrent of other negative ads highlighting the former football star’s history of violent behavior, including footage of his ex-wife detailing his threats against her. He hasn’t denied those claims, citing struggles with mental health disease.
Before the spate of abortion reports, many public polls showed a neck-and-neck contest between the two rivals in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. It’s not yet clear how the developments could influence the race, though the fallout has shifted the media narrative for the last week.
For his part, Warnock has steered clear of the latest scandals coming forward against Walker. Warnock has plenty of his own baggage. A PAC that supports Walker has released an ad that features the video of Warnock’s ex-wife talking to police about his violent behavior toward her. The video is from 2020 and she talks about the time he ran her over with his car.
The 30-second spot, “Good Actor,” is publicly available police bodycam footage of Warnock’s ex-wife in tears and visibly shaken, accusing him of attempting to run her over with his car. Warnock denies the allegations.
The incident, which occurred before Warnock was elected to the Senate in a special election decided in a Jan. 5, 2021, runoff, was used as an attack on him and reported on by some media outlets during that campaign. It did not have an impact.
Warnock has edged a smidge up in Real Clear Politics aggregate averaging. It has Warnock up by 3.8 points. Before the latest family drama broke against Walker, the two were tied. The race is still a toss-up and both sides are hoping that these negative ads don’t have much effect in the end with voters.
The latest poll is out today from Emerson College Polling. Warnock holds the lead.
The poll shows Warnock garnering 48 percent support to Walker’s 46 percent. That marks a 4-point improvement for the Democratic incumbent since August, when the same poll showed him trailing Walker 44 percent to 46 percent.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 4 to 7, just after a report from The Daily Beast surfaced allegations that Walker had paid for his then-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009. Walker, who has campaigned as an ardently anti-abortion conservative, has denied the allegations and has threatened to sue The Daily Beast for defamation.
It’s unclear how much — or even if — the allegations against Walker have hurt his standing in the race. The poll didn’t ask respondents whether they had heard the accusations or if they had an opinion on the matter.
What is clear, however, is that Warnock’s support among women is on the rise. Fifty-one percent of women who responded to the poll said that they are backing Warnock compared to 42 percent who are supporting Walker. That marks a 4-point increase in support for Warnock since August.
Today, Senators Rick Scott and Tom Cotton are in Georgia campaigning with Herschel Walker to show support from Republicans in the Senate. On Friday, the first and only debate will be held between Walker and Warnock. Stay tuned, even if Georgia voters may feel like tuning out at this point.
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