“Democratic and Republican groups in Georgia are spending millions of dollars on highly personal negative advertising in the final weeks of the race between Senator Raphael Warnock and his challenger, Herschel Walker, disparaging the candidates by drawing more attention to their pasts,” the New York Times reports.

“Days before the candidates are set to meet on a debate stage, groups aligned with each party are flooding the airwaves with a pair of ads that underline accusations of domestic violence against Mr. Walker, a Republican, and marital disputes involving Mr. Warnock, a Democrat. Their messages are shaping the final few weeks of campaigning in one of the country’s most closely watched races that could determine control of the Senate, and at times one of the most hostile.”

A new Emerson College/The Hill survey in Georgia finds Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) with a two-point lead over challenger Herschel Walker (R) in the race for US Senate, 48% to 46%.

Since the August poll, Warnock’s support increased four points and Walker’s support decreased by two points. 

In the governor’s race, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) leads challenger Stacey Abrams (D), 51% to 46%.

First Read: “Maybe it works. Maybe Walker defeats incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., in a state that’s had its recent share of close elections. And maybe political jersey color matters more than anything else — more than qualifications, more than damaging allegations and more than fitness for the job.”

“Yet the consequences would be enormous.”

“It would mean nothing else matters in our politics besides party ID. It would mean the GOP would support any candidate — no matter the allegations against him — to win control of the U.S. Senate. And it would mean a damaged nominee (who hasn’t been forthcoming about the allegations against him) serving for at least six years in the U.S. Senate.”

“It’s a high-risk move for the GOP, putting winning above everything else. It’s also a high-risk move for the state of our politics.”

Politico: “A super PAC backed by former President Donald Trump is pouring money into a last minute ad buy to boost Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker following a bruising week of headlines.”

“The ad by MAGA Inc. focuses on culture wars and incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock’s voting record — but makes no mention of Walker or his recent controversies.”

“A woman who has said Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, paid for her abortion in 2009 told The New York Times that he urged her to terminate a second pregnancy two years later,” the New York Times reports.

“They ended their relationship after she refused.”

“In a series of interviews, the woman said Mr. Walker had barely been involved in their now 10-year-old son’s life, offering little more than court-ordered child support and occasional gifts.”

Not only has the story now been confirmed by another publication, it just gets worse for Walker.

“Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign cut ties with its political director on Wednesday, the move coming just days after The Daily Beast reported that the Georgia Republican paid for a woman’s abortion more than a decade ago,” CNN reports.

“Two people familiar with the matter said Taylor Crowe was fired after suspected leaking to members of the media. It is unclear if there were any other factors at play.”

Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) told CNN he blames Donald Trump for Herschel Walker’s (R) Senate candidacy.

Said Duncan: “We didn’t ask who was the best leader. We didn’t ask who had the best resume. Unfortunately, Republicans looked around to see who Trump supported and he was a famous football player and so he became our nominee and now we’re paying the price.”

He added: “Donald Trump led us down a rabbit trail post-election because he was too consumed with trying to save face from losing his election. And he ran us down a trail and we screwed up.”

“I think he’s the most important Senate candidate in the country because he’ll do more to change the Senate just by the sheer presence, by his confidence, by his deep commitment to Christ, by the degree to which he has – you know, he’s been through a long, tough period. He had a lot of concussions coming out of football.”

— Newt Gingrich, defending Herschel Walker (R) on Fox News.

Daniel Dale: “Herschel Walker has been running a TV ad in which he looks into the camera and falsely claims that Raphael Warnock cut funding to the police. This assertion is so imaginary that Walker’s campaign hasn’t even responded to requests to identify what he’s talking about.”

Herschel Walker’s denials of the allegation that he had paid for an abortion 13 years ago aren’t holding up, Aaron Blake reports.

Specifically — unless he has children other than the four he’s already admitted to fathering — he should know exactly which woman is making the allegation.

Donald Trump is reluctant to return to Georgia to campaign for Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) after his campaign was rocked by an abortion scandal, CNN reports.

A new SurveyUSA poll in Georgia finds Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) leading challenger Herschel Walker (R), 50% to 38% among likely voters.

The survey was conducted before The Daily Beast published allegations that Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion.

For comparison, the FiveThirtyEight polling average shows Warnock ahead by only four points.

Politico: “Since revelations surfaced that the former football star and self-described ‘pro-life’ Republican had allegedly paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, evangelical Christian leaders in Georgia have banded together to support Walker, as has the Republican Party in general.”

Daily Beast: “After a woman revealed that Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker had urged her to have an abortion, Walker adamantly denied the story and claimed he had no idea who this woman could be.”

“But there’s a good reason the woman finds that defense highly doubtful: She’s the mother of one of his children.”

Said the woman: “I’ve been very civil thus far. I keep my mouth shut. I don’t cause any trouble. I stay in the background. But I’m also not gonna get run over time and time again.”

John Ellis: “Over the course of Hershel Walker’s 12-year professional football career, he was in at least 137 ‘head-on car crashes.’ Watching him speak and struggle to think clearly, you can’t help but wonder if ‘repeated blows to the head’ from playing football at the highest, hardest-hitting level have damaged his brain.”

“It’s painful to watch. Walker shouldn’t be a candidate for the United States Senate. He’s not qualified. He won’t know what to do when (and if) he gets to Washington. He’s only on the ticket because former President Trump endorsed him. The moment he becomes a liability for Trump, Trump will cut him loose. So will everyone else. No one cares about Herschel Walker in GOP circles (or in any other circles, for that matter). If Georgia Republicans could replace him on the ballot today, they would do so in a nano-second. They can’t. It’s too late.”

“The amazing thing is: he can still win.”

A new Insider Advantage poll in Georgia finds Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) leading challenger Herschel Walker (R), 47% to 45%.

Said pollster Matt Towrey: “We were polling this race before news broke late Monday of allegations against Herschel Walker and the social media posts by his son. We scrapped that poll and surveyed last evening after newspapers, television news, and social media bombarded voters with the various stories. In our Monday, October 3 poll, and prior to these news events, Walker trailed Warnock by one point.”

He adds: “The good news for Warnock is that following these newest events, he leads by three points. The good news for Walker is that the difference between the two polls is well within the survey’s margin of error.”

In the race for governor, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) leads challenger Stacey Abrams (D), 50% to 45%.