Republicans are scrambling to understand the fallout of the report this week that Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker paid for a 2009 abortion, despite his stated opposition to the procedure.
Walker’s first appearance since the accusations published by the Daily Beast took place in Wadley on Thursday. And Republican strategists know there are now three broad buckets that Georgia GOP voters fall into ahead of Walker’s matchup against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has heard from voters in all three camps. The first is the bloc of voters who believe Walker’s denials when he has called the claims a “flat-out lie.”
“I don’t put any credence into anything at this point of a campaign. I could care less if he paid for somebody’s abortion,” said Mike Upchurch, a 68-year-old Republican from Acworth.
The second are those who believe those reports and are troubled by Walker’s history of violent behavior, but support him anyway, saying they’ll do what it takes for a GOP-controlled Senate.
It’s the third group that Republican operatives worry could swing the Senate election. They are the otherwise reliable GOP voters who indicate in polls they will either vote for the Libertarian, back Warnock, or skip the Senate race.
This last group reminds us of Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who finished a distant second to Walker in the GOP primary. Days before the May vote, he told us he could never vote for Walker in a general election.
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WARNOCK RESPONSE. As drama continued to engulf Herschel Walker, his opponent, U.S, Sen. Raphael Warnock, traveled the state on a bus tour Thursday.
The Democrat was in Savannah delivering a policy-heavy stump speech and mentioned Walker’s headaches only when pressed by reporters.
“What we are hearing about my opponent is disturbing, and I think the people of Georgia have a real choice about who they think is ready to represent them in the United States Senate,” Warnock said.
Warnock is trying to avoid what Democrats call a boomerang effect. They’re concerned that intervening will inadvertently give Republicans a new rallying cry by distracting attention away from Walker’s headaches.
But while Warnock hasn’t been calling out Walker on the trail, his campaign debuted an aggressive new ad highlighting descriptions of domestic violence against Walker by his ex-wife.
You can see the ad here.
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LISTEN UP. We had plenty to talk about on the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, taped moments after your Insiders wrapped up at Herschel Walker’s event in Wadley.
We also took questions from the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline and named our “Who’s Up, Who’s Down” for this week.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
And don’t forget you’re invited to a live taping of the podcast at Manuel’s Tavern on Tuesday. For all the details on how to join us, go to live.ajc.com.
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Hyosub Shin/AJC
Hyosub Shin/AJC
FAIR AND SQUARE? In an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta’s Russ Spencer, Burt Jones was asked if he believes that President Joe Biden “won fair and square.”
The GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, one of the few Donald Trump endorsees to prevail in Georgia’s GOP primary, pivoted to a criticism of the Democrat.
“He’s your president right now, and he was sworn in, he’s the president. And right now we are feeling the effects of his presidency right now due to the inflation that we have caused,” he said.
“The border situation is terrible, and while those are going on, we’ve got to be as elected officials looking at ways we can alleviate some of those pains people in this state are feeling.”
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POT PASS. President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he is pardoning thousands of people convicted of federal charges for simple marijuana possession. He also initiated a review of how the drug is classified.
“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement. The president said the lingering criminal records create later problems with employment, housing and educational opportunities, especially for minorities.
Georgia Democrats hope the move will boost turnout among young and voters of color ahead of the midterms.
Reclassification could be a first step toward legalizing marijuana at the federal level, but only Congress authorizes decriminalization.
Stacey Abrams applauded Biden’s proposal and said she would follow through if elected Georgia’s governor.
“As a legislator, I supported legalizing medical marijuana,” she wrote on Twitter. “As governor, I will decriminalize marijuana possession in the state of Georgia and support prioritizing the expungement of marijuana possession records.”
Jen Jordan, the Democratic attorney general nominee, called it “a step in the right direction.”
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POVERTY PLAN. Speaking of policy changes, our colleague Nedra Rhone, who writes the Real Life column, has written about one-time fixes for poverty, which she says require a long-term solution.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
GOING HOLLYWOOD. Republican critics of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams love to play up the backing her campaign gets from the entertainment industry. Hollywood stars have contributed to her two campaigns for governor and the GOP plays up her connection to the “left coast.”
But in Georgia, where the film industry has gotten billions of dollars in tax credits, with the backing of Republican leadership, GOP candidates are getting film and TV cash, reports our campaign finance nerd James Salzer.
A campaign report filed by the Georgia Reel Industry Professionals — which is funded by local studios as well as big media companies like ViacomCBS/Paramount and Disney — showed that most of its money in recent months went to Republican candidates and groups ahead of the midterm elections, Salzer noted.
While the House Democratic Caucus received $5,000, the House Republican caucus got $50,000. Gov. Brian Kemp and his leadership committee got another $27,000, and the leadership committee of Republican lieutenant governor nominee Burt Jones got $10,000.
Abrams: Zero.
That’s probably not surprising since the political action committee’s chairman is Brad Alexander, a lobbyist who was chief of staff to Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and the treasurer is Mark Middleton, another lobbyist who was an early supporter of Kemp when he first ran for governor in 2018.
The film tax credit — one of the most expensive tax breaks on the state of Georgia’s books – passed under Republican leadership in the mid-2000s and has been heavily supported by both parties in the General Assembly.
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Natrice Miller / AJC
Natrice Miller / AJC
A.G. CASH. In other fundraising news, state Sen. Jen Jordan, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, announced that she raised just over $1 million dollars in the third quarter heading into the final weeks before the midterm election.
Jordan has raised over $3.1 million for the cycle, and has $1.4 million cash on hand.
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TRUMP’S COMEBACK? A BBC News documentary exploring American democracy in 2022 and the impact of another possible Donald Trump presidency features the insight of some well-known Georgians.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was among those interviewed for the movie, titled “Trump: The Comeback?” So was the Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest. Paulding County elections director Deidre Holden is also featured reading some of the threatening letters she has received.
The host also spoke to voters in Georgia and other swing states like Arizona and Pennsylvania who explained why they still can’t accept that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
“Trump: The Comeback?” is now available on BBC Select streaming, and it will also air on BBC World News on Saturday and Sunday at various times.
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AJC file photo
AJC file photo
ON THE TRAIL:
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign swing continues today in Macon and Albany.
- Democratic state lawmakers will hold a news conference today at the state Capitol on gun safety;
- Democratic State Sen. Jen Jordan takes her attorney general campaign to Eastman today.
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IN ENDORSEMENT NEWS:
Emily’s List, which supports pro-choice Democratic women seeking office, has endorsed 14 additional candidates for Georgia’s state House: Nabilah Islam, Sally Harrell, Mary Frances Williams, Mary Robichaux, Peggy Gillen, Dr. Michelle Au, Esther Panitch, Shea Roberts, Kelly Coffman, Betsy Holland, Shelly Hutchinson, Jasmine Clark, Mokah Jasmine Johnson and Joyce Barlow.
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WARNOCK WAY. One of the stops on U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s bus tour this week will now have a familiar name.
Warnock grew up on Savannah’s on Cape Street in the Kayton-Frazier Homes. But the stretch of the road received an honorary renaming in honor of Warnock, and he attended the ceremony Thursday to unveil the new sign for “Warnock Way.”
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AND FINALLY. As you might have guessed, Georgia politics have been the subject this week of Democratic speculation, Republican hand-wringing, and lots of late night comedy.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
