Georgia Senate candidate and former football player Herschel Walker received the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, making his dash for the end zone of the 2022 GOP primaries easier.
Walker, who’s now hoping to oust incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, has already received the backing of former President Donald Trump and Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican. McConnell’s endorsement suggests the former Dallas Cowboys player has widespread appeal within the party, stitching together a coalition of the populist Trump wing and McConnell’s more establishment faction.
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“Herschel is the only one who can unite the party, defeat Senator Warnock, and help us take back the Senate,” McConnell said in a statement on Wednesday. “I look forward to working with Herschel in Washington to get the job done.”
Walker initially drew skepticism from GOP leaders. While the former athlete has name recognition and a close relationship with the former president, he is from outside the state and has not been forthright on his policy positions.
But the former football star was able to fundraise $3.7 million in the first five weeks after he announced his candidacy, assuaging concerns about one key aspect of campaigning.
Trump endorsed Walker in September, declaring he “embodies ‘America First’ and the winning spirit of Georgia.”
“He was a great football player and will be an even better U.S. Senator — if that is even possible,” he predicted.
While Walker said that he was “honored” by Trump’s endorsement, he has created some daylight between himself and the former president. Walker recently distanced himself from Trump’s claims that Republicans “will not be voting” in the 2022 and 2024 elections if officials don’t “solve” allegations of fraud in the 2020 contest.
“I think everyone’s got to get out and vote,” Walker told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on his radio show. “You know, we can’t look at the past. We can’t continue to look at the past.”
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Georgia’s Senate race is expected to be among the most competitive in the country. The Peach State, once a GOP stronghold, has been trending blue in recent years, with voters narrowly supporting President Joe Biden over Trump and sending two Democratic senators to Congress in the state’s twin special elections earlier this year.
