Former President Donald Trump is encouraging Texas resident Herschel Walker to run for Senate in Georgia in 2022; Republican insiders in the Peach State are intrigued, but some are skeptical.
Trump said in a statement that Walker would be “unstoppable” against Democratic Sen. Rafael Warnock. “Run Herschel, run!” he cheered. Walker, a Georgia native and Heisman Trophy-winning college football player at the University of Georgia in the 1980s, is, as Trump said, “legendary” in the state. But Walker has lived in Texas for years, and some Republicans wonder if he could handle the rigors of a targeted Senate race his first time in the political arena.
“If he truly has an interest in running for U.S. Senate in Georgia and representing our party and our state, I would hope he would move back here and have meetings with activists and people in the community and make the case that, ‘Hey, this is something I want to do and I’m ready for what’s going to come my way,’” said Chip Lake, a Republican operative in Georgia.
Lake served as an adviser to former Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican candidate for Senate in 2020. Collins has not ruled out running for Senate or challenging Gov. Brian Kemp in the GOP primary, in next year’s midterm elections. Despite the apprehension of some Republican strategists, Walker, 59, has two qualities that are simultaneously very appealing to party insiders.
He is a beloved African American icon in Georgia with fans across the political spectrum, making him potentially formidable in the general election. And, for all intents and purposes, he already has Trump’s endorsement, making him a potential consensus candidate in the primary. Walker, close personal friends with Trump for decades, has seen his star skyrocket in Republican circles because of his strong public support for the former president’s reelection campaign.
Open GOP Senate primaries are rare in Georgia. Rumors of a potential Walker candidacy and fear of running against Trump’s pick to challenge Warnock are why prominent Republicans interested in running for Senate have held off. Former Sen. David Perdue, who lost his 2020 reelection bid, briefly entertained a comeback. After meeting with Trump earlier this year, the Republican pulled the plug.
“One of the reasons people have stepped aside is because they heard about the Trump-Herschel combo,” a Georgia GOP operative said.
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Trump’s brief prepared statement, issued Wednesday evening, is likely to reinforce that narrative. “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the legendary Herschel Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia? He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. He is also a GREAT person. Run Herschel, run!” the former president said.
Walker appears interested. He began making calls into the state, inquiring with Republicans about mounting a 2022 campaign after the Jan. 5 runoff elections for Senate, Republicans in Georgia say. Those runoffs were a disaster for the GOP, as both Republican incumbents, Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, fell to Democratic challengers, defeats that cost the party control of the Senate in Washington.
Walker’s biggest hurdle in a primary, or general election, could be himself.
The businessman and former professional athlete has made provocative statements in media interviews and on social media platforms, mostly in support of Trump’s claims that the November election was stolen because of massive fraud that he argues was ignored in Georgia and elsewhere. Trump’s narrow defeat at the hands of President Biden made him the first Republican to lose the state’s electoral votes since 1992.
In a pair of conspiratorial tweets posted Jan. 6, the day the United States Capitol was ransacked by a mob of grassroots Trump supporters, Walker suggested the violence was perpetrated by leftists intent on hiding the fraud blocking the 45th president from a second term.
“Trojan Horses …I call on @realDonaldTrump to find out who these people are as they do not look like MAGA! You have the power right now to see who they really are and to get to the bottom of who stole this election! Prosecute these bad players,” Walker said in one of those tweets.
In another, he said: “Have you noticed were not talking about election fraud and election integrity now? Seems like this was well planned to shut everything down and run the clock out.”