After a report from the Daily Beast detailed a situation when anti-abortion Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for an abortion for his girlfriend in 2009, Walker’s campaign says it had a “record-breaking” fundraising day of over $182,000.
While those fundraising dollars can be viewed as great for Walker’s campaign, Georgia’s Republican Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan says his party is growing tired of Walker as a candidate.
“I think every Republican knew that there was baggage out there,” Duncan said about Walker during a CNN interview on Wednesday. “But the weight of that baggage is starting to feel a little closer to unbearable at this point.”
Walker, who famously said he supports a “no exception” abortion ban, has denied he paid for the woman to get an abortion. Additional reporting from the Daily Beast indicated the same woman who claims Walker paid for her to get an abortion in 2009 also shares a child with Walker. Walker has also denied this assertion.
“And if we’re being intellectually honest, Herschel Walker won the primary because he scored a bunch of touchdowns back in the ’80s, and he was Donald Trump’s friend,” Duncan continued. “And now we’ve moved forward several months on the calendar and that’s no longer a recipe to win.”
Duncan did not specify what “baggage” he was referring to, and did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment on this story, but Walker has been accused of stalking and domestic violence, his campaign falsely claimed he graduated from the University of Georgia (he left school early) and he received some criticism for his comments on climate change.
Walker’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
A Thursday Insider/FOX 5 poll showed that Walker’s opponent, Democratic incumbent senator in Georgia Raphael Warnock, is leading their senate race. Warnock was polled at 47% compared with Walker at 44%.
Past polling on this race is consistent with a close race, and MarketWatch’s Victor Reklaitis outlined that Georgia’s Senate race in 2022 could sway which party controls the chamber after the November midterms. Additionally, the results of a close Georgia Senate election may have to wait until December if a runoff is triggered by neither candidate getting over 50% of the vote.
The GOP currently has a lead in November’s generic ballot, and is an 81% favorite to win back control of the House of Representatives as of October 5. Democrats have a slight edge to control the Senate, according to the betting markets.
