The Jolt: Republican voters react to Herschel Walker turmoil

Republicans are scrambling to understand the fallout of the report this week that Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker paid for a 2009 abortion, despite his stated opposition to the procedure.

Walker’s first appearance since the accusations published by the Daily Beast took place in Wadley on Thursday. And Republican strategists know there are now three broad buckets that Georgia GOP voters fall into ahead of Walker’s matchup against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has heard from voters in all three camps. The first is the bloc of voters who believe Walker’s denials when he has called the claims a “flat-out lie.”

“I don’t put any credence into anything at this point of a campaign. I could care less if he paid for somebody’s abortion,” said Mike Upchurch, a 68-year-old Republican from Acworth.

The second are those who believe those reports and are troubled by Walker’s history of violent behavior, but support him anyway, saying they’ll do what it takes for a GOP-controlled Senate.

It’s the third group that Republican operatives worry could swing the Senate election. They are the otherwise reliable GOP voters who indicate in polls they will either vote for the Libertarian, back Warnock, or skip the Senate race.

This last group reminds us of Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who finished a distant second to Walker in the GOP primary. Days before the May vote, he told us he could never vote for Walker in a general election.

***

WARNOCK RESPONSE. As drama continued to engulf Herschel Walker, his opponent, U.S, Sen. Raphael Warnock, traveled the state on a bus tour Thursday.

The Democrat was in Savannah delivering a policy-heavy stump speech and mentioned Walker’s headaches only when pressed by reporters.

“What we are hearing about my opponent is disturbing, and I think the people of Georgia have a real choice about who they think is ready to represent them in the United States Senate,” Warnock said.

Warnock is trying to avoid what Democrats call a boomerang effect. They’re concerned that intervening will inadvertently give Republicans a new rallying cry by distracting attention away from Walker’s headaches.

But while Warnock hasn’t been calling out Walker on the trail, his campaign debuted an aggressive new ad highlighting descriptions of domestic violence against Walker by his ex-wife.

You can see the ad here.

***

LISTEN UP. We had plenty to talk about on the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, taped moments after your Insiders wrapped up at Herschel Walker’s event in Wadley.

We also took questions from the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline and named our “Who’s Up, Who’s Down” for this week.

Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.