EXCLUSIVE — Georgia Senate candidates are taking aim at each other over past controversies as the battle for the upper chamber becomes increasingly heated.
In a digital ad released on Thursday, GOP nominee Herschel Walker’s campaign shows police footage of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s ex-wife Ouleye Ndoye accusing the Georgia Democrat of running over her foot with a car following a 2020 dispute outside her townhome.
The 45-second spot titled “What Else Is He Hiding?” features ominous music over an emotional video of Ndoye calling Warnock a “great actor,” with a narrator highlighting accusations that emerged as part of their divorce proceedings, including allegations that he has fallen short on reimbursing her for childcare costs.
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“Raphael Warnock, we see him on TV, but what is he really hiding? Here’s what his ex-wife had to say: ‘I’ve tried to keep the way that he acts under wraps for a long time.’ During their divorce two years ago, police were called when Warnock hit his wife with his car after an argument,” the ad says.
“Earlier this year, he was accused of neglecting his small children and failing to pay court-mandated childcare costs, despite being worth more than $800,000 and making $174,000 a year from taxpayers. When officials tried to serve him papers, Warnock ran from the process server. Georgia voters are learning a lot about Sen. Warnock, but take it from the people who know him best: ‘He’s a great actor.’”
Warnock previously denied that he hit his wife with his vehicle, and he was not charged with a crime.
The ad comes in response to attack ads by Senate Majority PAC, a super political action committee closely linked to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and anti-Trump super PAC the Republican Accountability Project using footage of Walker’s ex-wife Cindy Grossman alleging Walker, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, threatened to kill her on more than one occasion during the course of their 20-year marriage.
The footage used in the ads stems from a 2008 ABC News interview with the former NFL running back and Grossman in which they discussed his diagnosis, struggles, and treatment for dissociative identity disorder.
Sources close to Walker, a former NFL running back, took aim at Warnock’s use of the interview, alleging his campaign is stigmatizing mental health for political gain and noting that Walker was never charged with a crime.
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Walker — who has faced a number of controversies since winning his primary, including falsely claiming to have been an FBI agent and reports that he’s fathered multiple children he initially did not acknowledge earlier in the campaign — has been open about his struggles with mental health, recently taking aim at Warnock and the Republican Accountability Project for their ads, calling them “dishonest” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he argued he has been an advocate for mental health awareness and treatment since his diagnosis.
“It should come as no surprise that Chuck Schumer and Raphael Warnock released this ad the day after multiple polls showed Herschel leading. Democrats are running scared because they’re seeing that no amount of money they can spend to lie to the people of Georgia will work,” Walker spokesman Will Kiley said in a statement. “Herschel has never hidden from his past and has always taken responsibility for his actions. It is time for Raphael Warnock to take responsibility for his failure to serve the people of Georgia.”
Kiley went on to allege that Warnock has “never been transparent and open about his past or taken responsibility for his action.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a memo on Aug. 12 encouraging Democrats to continue to highlight Walker’s ex-wife’s comments and the police reports in the final stretch of the race.
Georgia is seen as a key state in deciding which party will hold the Senate majority next Congress, with the race becoming more contentious as the candidates battle to represent the Peach State.
Recent polls have shown Walker with a slight edge in the race. A survey released by Emerson Polling late last month showed the Georgia Republican with a 2-point lead over Warnock, but within the margin of error.
