Herschel Walker (R) “has spurned press conferences, avoided media interviews and held only a handful of public events since launching his U.S. Senate campaign,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
But he has collected “$415,000 for paid speeches between July 2020 and December 2021, including about $172,000 from six appearances since he announced his campaign in August.”
“A review of Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s (R) Instagram account shows he follows several accounts with links to racy material,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“One of the accounts has a name not suitable for a family newsletter. Several others also have accounts on OnlyFans, a social media platform popular with porn stars.”
“Herschel Walker’s (R) campaign deleted a false claim that he graduated from the University of Georgia hours after it was posted on a website promoting his U.S. Senate bid,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The Cook Political Report moved three U.S. Senate races next year — in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — from Lean Democrat to Toss Up.
“Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker has won the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, cementing his support from the Republican Party establishment in a race that could determine which party controls the chamber,” Politico reports.
“The endorsement could help Walker lock down the GOP primary, where he faces several lesser-known opponents.”
Politico: “Party leaders are now rallying around Walker, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who is running in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate after 2022. Scrutiny of Walker’s erratic past at first led Senate Republicans to voice concern about whether the former running back can win, but he has made significant inroads since then.”
“In the latest illustration of the shift, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, is set to endorse Walker on Monday.”
“Thune is the first member of Senate GOP leadership to endorse Walker, and his support is the newest evidence the former football star has tacitly won the party hierarchy’s blessing.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting: “Apart from a prominent speech at a Trump rally in Perry, the former University of Georgia football star has largely juked typical campaign events, fundraisers and media interviews in favor of friendlier conversations on conservative media outlets such as Fox News.”
“A GPB News analysis finds Walker has done more than two dozen interviews in the eight weeks since launching his campaign, almost exclusively with Fox News personalities like Sean Hannity.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) “raised more than $9.5 million during the latest fundraising quarter, an enormous sum that highlights the extensive fundraising infrastructure the Democrat has built for a re-election bid that will help decide control of the Senate,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s (R) campaign declined to tell the Atlanta Journal Constitution whether he had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) “canceled a fundraiser with a conservative film producer who until Wednesday used a rendering of a swastika as her Twitter profile picture,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The campaign initially contended the symbol wasn’t a swastika but a sign of opposition to vaccine requirements.
Herschel Walker, the NFL-star-turned-Senate-hopeful, will speak at former President Trump’s rally in Georgia on Saturday, The Hill reports.
Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) told Howard Stern that he’s played Russian roulette as least six times “because I love competition so much… I just love to compete.”
A new Trafalgar poll in Georgia finds Herschel Walker (R) with a massive lead in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate with 76% support, followed by Gary Black (R) at 6%, Latham Saddler (R) at 3% and Kelvin King (R) at 2%.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The woman, Myka Dean, detailed the alleged threats made by Herschel Walker to authorities in the Texas city of Irving in a January 2012 police report.”
“Dean is the second woman who was involved romantically with Walker to accuse him of making violent threats… In the report, Dean told authorities that Walker ‘lost it’ and flew into a fury when she told him she wanted to start dating other people.”
From the report: “He told her that he was going to come and sit outside her apartment and “blow her head off when she came outside.’ He then told her that he was going to ‘blow his head off’ after he killed her.”
“Democrats have filed a complaint against Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Herschel Walker,” WXIA reports.
“The complaint alleges Walker violated the law by spending money as a political candidate before filing required paperwork declaring his candidacy interest in the race.”
Former NFL running back Herschel Walker (R) has filed paperwork to run for Senate, challenging freshman Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in Georgia next year, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“He entered the race at the urging of former President Donald Trump, who said the one-time running back would be as ‘unstoppable’ as a candidate as he was on the field. He also boasts sky-high name recognition in Georgia and an outsider persona, traits he hopes will help him breeze to the GOP nomination.”
Former NFL running back Herschel Walker (R) has apparently moved back to Georgia in what could be a prelude to a run for the U.S. Senate, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Walker’s supporters hope that his high name recognition, combined with a likely endorsement from former President Donald Trump, establish him as the clear frontrunner in the race to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) if he enters the contest.
A new Fabrizio Lee poll on behalf of Donald Trump’s Save America PAC finds former NFL running back Herschel Walker (R) taking 54% of the vote in a GOP primary for Senate.
No other GOP candidate polls above 5%.
☑️ Life in the Middle: Marginalized Moderate Senators In the Era of Polarization is available on Amazon. It takes a deep dive into the power of moderates and why we see them behave so precariously.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.