U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s financial disclosures were posted late Wednesday, and it shows he has a number of lucrative businesses.
The document shows his umbrella organization for his various business endeavors, H. Walker Enterprises, is worth between $25 million and $50 million and generated $3.2 million in income. Separately, Walker also lists $1.3 million in wages and earnings from late 2020 through late 2021.
About a third of that was from speeches that the football superstar delivered to over a dozen groups, and one of them caught our eye. He spoke to the Republican Attorneys General Association in August 2020 during their meeting in Sea Island.
This is the group state Attorney General Chris Carr resigned as chairman of after it paid for a robocall telling people to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Walker was paid $22,500 for his remarks.
He takes an annual $100,000 salary from his poultry production company, Renaissance Man Food Services. He was also paid more than $420,000 from a pair of sports marketing companies. A Delaware-based mental health care provider pays him $330,000 this year to serve as a spokesman for its support program for veterans.
Other highlights:
- He was paid $20,000 in October 2021 to speak to the Mid City Women’s Clinic in Hurst, Texas and $27,000 in November 2021 to speak to the Pregnant Choice Medical group in Augusta. Both are among a network of clinics that aim to deter women from abortions.
- Walker still receives health insurance via the program for retired NFL players.
- He was paid $52,000 to speak to a pair of Boys and Girls Clubs in Augusta and Gainesville this year.
We still have more digging to do through the dozens of stocks that Walker owns; more to come. If you’re a political junkie diving into the document, take a look and let us know if anything sticks out to you.
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments involving two of Georgia’s challenges to President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates in January. The challenges involve requirements that healthcare workers get their vaccines and businesses with more than 100 employees.
We reported last month that Gov. Brian Kemp and Carr teamed up with Republican leaders in Alabama and Florida officials to challenge several provisions of the federal mandates. A similar legal complaint from Louisiana officials led a federal appeals court to temporarily suspend the requirement so judges could review the law.
Separately, Georgia also challenged Biden’s mandate that 17 million workers at health care facilities that receive federal medical funding be vaccinated.
The Supreme Court scheduled the special hearing to hear arguments regarding the legality of both mandates. Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, one of Carr’s opponents, tweeted about the significance of the cases.
“Georgia’s Attorney General is charged with arguing on behalf of the state before the US Supreme Court. I will definitely be listening on the 7th,” she wrote. “You should too.”
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Internal polls leaked to the media are often meant to send a message. So when we saw the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s poll of Georgia’s Senate race, it sent a few signals.
First off, it was surprising to see a leak of a poll that showed Republican front-runner Herschel Walker only neck-and-neck against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. Most leaked polls show substantial leads.
What’s more, the poll showed Warnock is holding his own against Walker, despite a spiraling political climate for national Democrats. The poll had President Joe Biden’s disapproval rating at 55%, with 48% strongly disapproving.
So, what does this tell us? It’s a not-so-subtle nudge from the national GOP group indicating that Walker’s campaign – along with the rest of the Republican world – is about to step up efforts to tie Warnock to Biden.
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A few months ago, we told you Gov. Brian Kemp had a decision to make around whether to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday.
We now know he will support the effort for Georgia to further establish the newly created federal holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery.
Though the Republican governor signed a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday, it wasn’t a paid day off for state employees this year. That’s because state law limits state office closures to 12 public and legal holidays.
Georgia already had 12 in place in 2021. Ten of them are set-in-stone holidays like Christmas and New Year’s Day. Two others are flexible. Both of these honored events glorifying the Confederacy: Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
Then-Gov. Nathan Deal quietly changed the names of both in 2015 to the less descriptive “state holiday” and both since have floated to different parts of the calendar. This year, they took place on Good Friday and the day after Thanksgiving.
Kemp’s options for next year were to either amend the law and add Juneteenth as an official 13th state holiday, or drop another holiday, such as Columbus Day. He went the expansion route.
His spokeswoman Katie Byrd said Kemp backs a proposed legislative change for 2022 to “recognize all federal holidays.”
“This legislation will result in the number of federal holidays recognized to increase from 10 to 11, and the number of state holidays recognized to increase from 12 – 13,” she said. “So, in total, we will now recognize 13 holidays (a combination of state/federal) moving forward.”
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Stacey Abrams has been making the rounds with local Georgia media since she announced her run for governor.
In an interview with WFXG FOX 54, the Fox affiliate in Augusta, Abrams spoke out against Senate Bill 202, Georgia’s new voting law, as well as Lincoln County’s plans to reduce the number of polling places from seven to one in the rural county outside of Augusta.
“To close access to polling places, we are telling voters, ‘We do not want to hear from you,’” she said.
Abrams also talked about her second run for governor, her plans for the Augusta region, as well as her forthcoming children’s book, Stacey’s Extraordinary Words, which goes on sale next week.
The lesson of that book, she said: “It makes sense that if you don’t get something the first time you try, you don’t give up. You try again.”
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State Rep. Mike Wilensky, the Democrat who currently represents House District 79, announced that he will run for election in House District 80 instead next year. He now represents most of the newly reconfigured Dunwoody-based district.
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The Columbus-Ledger Enquirer reports that one of the state’s longest-serving Hispanic elected officials won’t seek another term.
City Councilmember Mimi Woodson became the first Latina elected to a city council in Georgia when she won her seat in 1994. She called herself a “workaholic” and said it’s finally “time to slow down.”
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In this holiday season, don’t forget to give yourself a little something. May we suggest a totally free subscription to the Politically Georgia podcast?
So far this week, we’ve recorded shows about the life and legacy of former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and a closer look at what’s next for outgoing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. And we’ll be up soon with a year-end review to an incredible year in Georgia politics.
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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.
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