Comment ATLANTA — Republicans have grown increasingly nervous about the final midterm elections for the U.S. Senate, a runoff in Georgia that reflects greater concerns about the quality of candidates, infighting and ties to Donald Trump looming over the future of the party. The race between Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker caps a tumultuous election season in which voters rejected many inexperienced Republican candidates associated with the former president and his ideas in favor of incumbent Democrats who tried to keep President Biden at arm’s length. Georgia, a purple state expected to heavily influence the 2024 presidential election, is a final testing ground for these competing forces — and one that has generated plenty of GOP pessimism. Seth Weathers, the Georgia manager for Trump’s 2016 campaign, previously expressed confidence that Walker would win in the runoff. Now, he said, looking at early voter turnout, “I’m more worried” and he’s not sure who will prevail. “Herschel Walker doesn’t have the ability to send a message of closure,” said Ben Burnett, a Republican podcast host in Georgia and a former city councilman in Alpharetta, a suburb of Atlanta. “And the relationship and the support he got from Donald Trump … is still an anchor around him with the 5 percent of voters that he couldn’t afford to lose.” Democrats have defied historical trends and Biden’s low approval ratings to limit losses in the US House, where a narrow Democratic majority will take power next year. Their biggest victory was winning a 50th Senate seat, which ensured they would retain control of the chamber, with Vice President Harris empowered to cast a tie-breaking vote. Democrats hope to expand that narrow majority on Tuesday, when Georgia’s elections conclude. Polls show a close race in the runoff, caused by no candidate receiving a majority of the vote in the Nov. 8 election. A CNN poll released Friday showed Warnock, senior pastor at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church who won the seat last year, with a narrow lead over Walker, a first-time candidate known for his star career of football. Although control of the Senate is not as balanced as it was in last year’s Georgia runoffs, in which Warnock won a special election, the stakes remain high for both parties, as surprise vacancies are not uncommon and a pair of centrist Democratic senators wield enormous power over their party’s agenda. Democrats also face a tough 2024 Senate map and need every seat they can muster to ride out a tough cycle. In the late stages of the race here in Georgia, Walker’s personal scandals and meandering comments continue to complicate GOP efforts to capitalize on voters’ disillusionment with Biden and the direction of the country, some Republicans said. Democrats have also tried to remind voters of Walker’s ties to Trump, which led the former to re-enter the primary with an endorsement but recently stayed away from Georgia. Several women have accused Walker of domestic violence. Two ex-girlfriends claimed he encouraged them to have abortions despite his support for strict bans. Walker denies these allegations. He has also made false claims about his background — at one point suggesting he worked as an FBI agent — and this week came under scrutiny for saying earlier this year he lived in Texas. Public records showing he received a tax break on Texas property earmarked for primary residences have sparked further attacks from critics. Warnock, who says the race is about “character and ability”, slammed Walker as unfit for the job, focusing on the puzzling comments – among them a viral digression from the campaign trail where Walker compared werewolves and vampires while was discussing a movie. “Vampires” and “werewolves” began to appear in the word clouds of Georgians’ associations with Walker, according to Democratic strategists, even before Warnock released an ad in which voters reacted to the comments with disbelief. Walker’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Supporters and supporters either deny the allegations against him or say they believe he has changed and is remorseful. “I’m not going to stand here today and tell you Herschel Walker is a perfect man,” Georgia pastor George Dillard said Friday at a rally with the candidate, saying Walker “understands forgiveness because he asked for it from the savior and he has received it and now he wants to share it.” Republicans say they are stepping up attacks on Warnock’s character in return. But they are still framing the race around Biden, calling Warnock a rubber stamp for the president and casting Walker as a vote against inflation and the national Democratic agenda. Walker often criticizes Warnock for voting with Biden 96% of the time. “He says to be a senator you have to know some things. Well, what I do know is that you haven’t done a good job since you’ve been in Washington,” Walker said during a recent stop in Powder Springs, a suburb of Atlanta. “What I do know is that you’re an awesome senator… you get an F.” Warnock has touted the Democrats’ legislative accomplishments on the trail, while also focusing heavily on his opponent and reaching out to independents and Republicans unenthusiastic about the GOP nominee. “I believe in my soul that Georgia knows that Georgia is better than Herschel Walker,” he told supporters Thursday at a rally with former President Barack Obama, the Democratic surrogate, as Warnock seeks distance from Biden, the who has not visited Georgia in the second round. . “You deserve a senator who cares enough about the people to really know the issues. You deserve a senator who will tell you the truth. You deserve a senator who actually lives in Georgia.” Drawing about 5,000 people on his second campaign trip to Georgia this year, Obama said Warnock’s re-election would give the party “more breathing room for important bills” — but echoed efforts by other Warnock allies to focus on the candidates themselves. “Fifty-one is better than 50 because it means Reverend Warnock will continue to represent you in Washington. That is the best reason,” he said. Democrats continue to face a difficult political environment and struggled in Georgia on Nov. 8, losing every statewide race except the Senate contest, despite beating expectations across the country. “At this point, it’s not even a matter of which base she’s more excited about,” said one Republican strategist working on the runoff, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity to be more specific. sincere. “It’s more a question of whose base is less depressing.” Walker and his allies have also highlighted issues that energize the Republican base, with an ad featuring the candidate alongside a former college athlete who says a transgender woman should not be able to compete with her at the NCAA swimming championships. At campaign stops where voters sport the University of Georgia Bulldogs, Walker gets reliable applause by criticizing “gender ideology” in schools and “vigilance” in the military. Democrats have long outspent Republicans in advertising in the race, as Walker — one of the GOP’s top fundraisers in key Senate races — struggles to match Warnock’s record. But the gap has widened in the offseason as Walker gets less help from outside teams. Democrats are spending about twice as much on ads in this runoff, according to the tracking firm AdImpact, and this week said they would allocate an additional $11 million to efforts to get out the vote for Warnock. Trump talks regularly with Walker and may hold a conference call for him, but has no plans to campaign for him in person, according to Trump advisers, who said Trump’s and Walker’s teams agreed it would not be productive. . Walker has not mentioned Trump at recent rallies. Democratic victories in midterm battlegrounds against Trump-aligned candidates have spurred more efforts to highlight the influence of the 45th president, who recently announced he will run for the White House again in 2024. Democratic strategists said they believe that some deter swing voters from the extreme positions and militant rhetoric espoused by the former president and his allies. Warnock’s campaign debuted an ad during the runoff centered on Trump’s praise of Walker. In Georgia and beyond, GOP infighting has intensified over the past two weeks, complicating efforts to present a united front and message in the runoff. There have been numerous rounds of finger-pointing over what many in the party see as disappointing mid-term results. Some have openly blamed Trump for the results. Georgia Lt. Gov. Jeff Duncan, a Republican, said he could not vote for either Walker or Warnock. “When there’s division in the locker room, there’s finger pointing. It’s usually the telltale sign of a losing season,” said Duncan, who has been a vocal critic of Walker. He was mocked by fellow Republicans this week after he said he stood in line to vote but left without voting. “We’ve been asked to be team players as Republicans for too long,” added Duncan, who has also criticized Trump’s power in the party. “We’re done being a team player. If we want to win, we need team leaders.” Allies and advisers of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee — at odds over midterm strategy — have battled openly during the runoff, negotiating spikes on the source of Republican shortfalls and each party’s investments down the stretch. Scott unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for the Senate GOP leadership after the election. The Florida Republican recently broadcast more…
