Georgia’s Senate rivals, sprint toward the runoff

ATLANTA — With nearly every other midterm election decided, Herschel Walker, Republican nominee for Senate in Georgia, and his Democratic rival, Sen. Raphael Warnock, are still in full campaign mode, pressing ahead with the approaches that left them narrowly divided on Nov. 8 and facing a runoff election on Dec. 6. That short timeline, which Georgia Republicans tightened last year after losing the towering runoff contests of early 2021, is forcing both sides to scramble to buy more ads, mobilize hundreds of new staff members and arrange visits from national allies.

The stakes remain high, even though Democratic victories in Arizona and Nevada ensured that the party would hold the Senate. A victory by Warnock, who narrowly edged out Walker on Nov. 8 but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to win outright, would give his party an important 51st seat.

With those variables in mind and little time to adjust strategy, both candidates sound largely the same. Walker is keeping to his winding, anecdote-filled and at times outlandish campaign speeches, peppered with criticisms of his opponent. Warnock is continuing to paint Walker as unqualified for office, using the more than $20 million he and allied groups have poured into advertising to castigate his rival on the airwaves.

Warnock’s campaign is focusing on turning out Georgia’s Democratic base while garnering support from people who voted for Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, but did not support Walker, particularly those in Atlanta’s suburbs. The campaign is also aiming to cut into Walker’s gains in conservative counties that he narrowly won.

Walker, however, is spending the runoff period trying to close that gap in support between his and Kemp’s campaigns. Over the past two weeks, he has spent more time campaigning in Atlanta’s suburbs, home to many college-educated conservatives.

His campaign has also run more negative advertising about Warnock and Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Democrat serves as senior pastor, amplifying stories about low-income tenants who were evicted from an apartment building owned by a for-profit entity with ties to the church.

The two parties’ fourweek timeline is down from nine weeks during the 2020 runoff cycle, a change that was enacted under the major voting law that Republican state legislators in Georgia passed last year. Early voting in most counties will run during weekdays after Thanksgiving.