ELLIJAY — It was a sunny spring afternoon as Herschel Walker walked to the microphone on the picturesque veranda of a North Georgia winery. His striped shirt was untucked and his cuffs unbuttoned.

“I’m not a politician. I don’t dress like one. I don’t look like one because I’m not one,” he told a crowd of several hundred people.

Still, on May 24, Walker will face his first test as a candidate in Georgia’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. He is the prohibitive favorite in the race. Polls show him winning the six-person race with a margin large enough to avoid a runoff. And Walker sounded eager on Saturday to get to the main event — the general election, where he would face off against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat.

“I’m on a journey,” he said. “And the thing about it is I’m ready.”

Walker outlined his life story, from an overweight kid with a stutter in Wrightsville to football star and now U.S. Senate candidate. He tossed in a few jokes and made frequent references to his faith.

“I’ve got no dog in this fight except the Lord Jesus Christ,” said the former Georgia Bulldog.

Walker rattled off a familiar list of GOP issues — support for the military and law enforcement as well as a strong economy and limited regulations. But he provided no specifics on what he would do if elected.