Senate Republicans think Georgia Democrats struck out in supporting relocating the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and are planning to remind Georgia voters with an ad scheduled to air during the game.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee will air an ad during Monday’s Home Run Derby and Tuesday’s All-Star Game — both of which are taking place in Denver, Colorado, in protest to Georgia’s new voter law — accusing “the radical left, woke crowd” and Sen. Raphael Warnock of costing the Peach State $100 million in lost revenue.
“Sen. Warnock’s voice cost Georgia $100 million,” a narrator says in the ad. “Play ball. Donate [to the NRSC] today.”
GEORGIA SENATORS INTRODUCE COUNTERPROPOSAL TO STATE’S VOTING LAW
.@ReverendWarnock‘s leadership in Georgia is a swing and a miss.
Warnock refused to condemn the @MLB boycott that hurt Georgia families, and we are proud to remind voters of the importance of replacing him next November. pic.twitter.com/uti05fyoNE
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) July 12, 2021
Sen. Rick Scott, who serves as chairman of the NRSC, said on Friday that the All-Star Game would be “bittersweet” for Georgia baseball fans due to the lost revenue because “sadly, it was their very own Senator who helped run the All-Star Game and $100 million out of Atlanta.”
“Raphael Warnock refused to condemn this boycott that hurt Georgia families,” he continued. “The NRSC is proud to remind voters in Georgia of the urgent need to replace Senator Warnock next November.”
A representative for Warnock did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
Warnock was a vocal opponent of his state’s controversial voter reforms and last month introduced a counterproposal designed to curb the legislation’s effects by “ensur[ing] the integrity of local elections while also protecting the safety and security of election workers and volunteers, following the spate of state-level voter suppression attacks sweeping the nation that would make it harder for eligible voters to cast a ballot and ensure it is counted.”
Georgia’s reforms, signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp on March 25, impose voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, give state officials the authority to make changes to county elections boards, authorize the use of ballot drop boxes (though there will be fewer than there were in 2020), and make it a crime for politically affiliated persons to approach voters in line within 150 feet of a polling place to give them food and water.
While Republicans touted the legislation as a crucial step toward shoring up election integrity, critics on the Left argue the law amounts to voter suppression for minorities.
The law resulted in the MLB announcing in early April its intent to relocate its 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta, a move MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. said was “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
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Though traditionally a Republican state, Georgia has been the site of some major Democratic victories in recent months. Warnock ousted incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican, during a special election in January. Sen. Jon Ossoff defeated Republican incumbent David Perdue in the state’s other Senate contest, and President Joe Biden won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since former President Bill Clinton in 1992.
Warnock will be forced to defend his seat in 2022 if he hopes to earn a full six-year Senate term.
