Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (left) and challenger Republican Herschel Walker (right)
ATLANTA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker pushed incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock to a likely runoff for a key Senate seat Tuesday after both candidates appeared to fall short of earning more than 50% of the vote.
Walker had amassed 48.5% of the vote as of 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, with Warnock drawing 49.4%, with 97% of precincts reporting, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s website. Libertarian Chase Oliver’s 2% of the vote was a distant third but enough to potentially put the two major-party candidates into a Dec. 6 runoff.
“We always knew this race would be close,” Warnock told supporters gathered at a downtown Atlanta hotel late Tuesday night. “Y’all just hang in there.”
“I don’t come to lose,” Walker told his supporters, who had gathered near Truist Park in Cobb County. “He’s going to be tough to beat … just hang in there a little bit longer.”
The two candidates both have deep roots in Georgia but differed sharply on the economy, abortion and gun rights on the campaign trail this fall.
Challenger Walker sought to identify Warnock with President Joe Biden and blame the Democrats for inflation. In contrast, Warnock touted the steps he has taken as a senator to reduce the effects of inflation on Georgians, such as instituting monthly caps on insulin prices and supporting college student loan debt relief.
Walker opposes most gun control measures as unconstitutional and contended that the government should stay out of health care. Warnock, in contrast, strongly supports Medicaid expansion in Georgia and voted for a gun-control bill passed by Congress in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shootings.
Though Walker initially indicated he opposes all abortions, during an October debate, he said he supports Georgia’s law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. In contrast, Warnock said that he believes abortion is a private medical decision between patient and doctor and he believes women should have the right to choose an abortion.
Despite Walker’s pro-life stance, two ex-girlfriends alleged he paid for their abortions, though Walker has denied these claims. Walker’s son also publicly criticized his father on social media.
But Warnock also faced an allegation that he ran over his ex-wife’s foot during an argument, which he has denied.
Ads for both candidates flooded Georgia airwaves and digital outlets. Warnock raised more than $100 million against Walker’s $37.7 million. But money appears to have made little difference in the outcome of the race, since neither candidate earned enough votes to prevent a runoff.
This will be the second time Warnock must win a runoff for the Senate seat. He first won his seat in a 2021 runoff that also drew national attention and dollars.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
A nurse provides a patient with an influenza vaccine. (Photo credit: CDC/Brandon Clifton)
ATLANTA – Georgia’s flu activity is currently very high, state epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek said during the state Department of Public Health (DPH) board meeting Tuesday.
Flu activity is spread around Georgia but is especially concentrated in metro Atlanta and around Macon and Columbus, Drenzek said.
The state’s flu activity has been high since mid-August and increased to “very high” recently. Currently, in Georgia, 18% of flu tests are positive, while only 9% are positive nationally, Drenzek said.
Outpatient visits for influenza-like symptoms have hit 10% this week. The last time the state saw similarly high rates so early in the flu season was in 2009-10.
The current influenza activity is disproportionately affecting young children and the elderly, Drenzek added. DPH has confirmed 58 institutional flu outbreaks in the last week alone, about half of those in schools and half in long-term care homes.
“Annual vaccination really remains the very best method for preventing seasonal flu and protecting against serious outcomes like hospitalization and death,” Drenzek added. “[It] is recommended for everyone over the age of six months.”
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), another infectious disease that affects primarily young children, has also had high levels of activity in September and October, said Drenzek, though numbers have declined recently. While 20% of tests were positive in mid-September, only 4.6% were positive this week.
Drenzek noted the disease can be deadly and that there is no vaccine for it. RSV mainly affects young children, and infants are at most risk for hospitalization.
DPH Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey noted the department had received reports that hospitals were being hit hard by the high number of cases across the state and that EMS transport had been a problem in some cases. Toomey said she contacted the governor’s office and the Georgia Department of Community Health about those issues.
In other public health developments, the DPH will also launch a new program to educate health-care providers and families about a common cause of hearing loss in young children, congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV). Twenty per cent of children born with the disease have a permanent disability such as hearing loss or a developmental delay, Tina Turner, deputy director of child health services at DPH, told the board.
Georgia requires screenings for all newborns for hearing problems so that they can receive early treatment and intervention. Beginning next month, the DPH will roll out an educational campaign about congenital cytomegalovirus to health-care providers and families, Turner said.
Turner said the agency also is putting together a work group to look more closely at increasing CMV screening efforts in newborns in Georgia. Most other states have such a screening program in place, said board member Dr. Cynthia Mercer, an OB-GYN.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first in recent months where COVID was not discussed in detail.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia voters turned out in full force during the state’s early voting period, with about 2.5 million people voting early in person or by absentee ballot.
The vast majority of those ballots – about 2.3 million – were cast through early voting in person at polling stations. Another 216,067 absentee ballots – more than three-quarters of all absentee ballots requested – were returned during the early voting period.
The overall early voting numbers are much higher than the last midterm elections in 2018 and close to the early voting number of 2.6 million ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“Georgia voters came out in near presidential-level numbers,” said Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “County election directors handled that demand with the utmost professionalism. They navigated a whole host of challenges and executed seamlessly. They deserve our highest praise.”
The early voting period began in mid October and extended until last Friday.
Stacey Abrams, who is challenging Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this year, and other Democrats have said that Georgians are turning out in high numbers in spite of the new law. The changes have made it harder for people to obtain absentee ballots, which has driven up demand for early voting, Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said.
Voters can turn in absentee ballots until 7 p.m. on Election Day Nov. 8. To find your polling location, visit My Voter Page.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s first experiment with new campaign finance committees that can accept unlimited donations has enabled Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams to raise a combined $94.6 million this year in their race for the governorship.
The new Georgia leadership committees – created by the General Assembly last year and signed into law by Kemp – allow major-party candidates for governor and lieutenant governor as well as top Republican and Democratic legislative leaders to raise unlimited campaign contributions.
The two gubernatorial candidates’ leadership committee hauls outstripped fundraising by their traditional campaign committees, which have much lower donation limits, typically maxing out at $24,200 per year.
Kemp’s Georgians First committee has pulled in $40.8 million since its founding in July 2021. Abrams’ One Georgia has raised even more, $53.8 million, though it did not get its start until March 2022.
During the latest filing period, which covers most of October, Abrams’ One Georgia leadership committee raised $14.5 million in cash, nearly triple what Abrams for Governor raised ($5.5 million). In that same period, Kemp’s Georgians First raised $11.7 million, more than double what Kemp for Governor raised ($4.2 million).
The new law has provided another avenue for out-of-state money to flow to the gubernatorial candidates more than happy to put it to use, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.
“Campaigns will spend whatever money is available,” he said.
Bullock said it’s unclear whether the new leadership committees’ big takings will make a difference in the election results.
“Raising more money than your opponent does not ensure a win, but it helps,” agreed Kimberly Martin, an assistant political science professor at Georgia Southern University. “There are plenty of examples of people who have raised more money than their opponent and not won.”
“These leadership committees are new in Georgia, and we won’t know their full impact until after the election,” said Martin.
Donors large and small have taken full advantage of the new leadershipcommittees, with some big spenders giving $1 million or more on a single day while others gave just $25, this week’s filings with the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission show.
Both gubernatorial candidates benefitted from their parties’ national governors associations. The Republican Governors Association donated at least $9 million to Kemp’s Georgians First leadership committee. Likewise, the Democratic Governors Association gave at least $5 million to Abrams’ One Georgia. These national groups focus on getting Republican and Democratic (respectively) governors elected.
Another major donor to Kemp’s committee is Timothy Mellon, whose address is listed as Saratoga, Wyo. Mellon, who owns a transportation company and is the grandson of American business tycoon Andrew Mellon, has given at least $5 million to Kemp’s leadership committee.
Miriam Adelson, the widow of billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson and a major Republican donor, chipped in $1 million from her Las Vegas address. Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of The Home Depot and a major Atlanta philanthropist, gave $775,000 to Georgians First.
A group called HardWorking Georgians donated $500,000 to Georgians First. The group’s website says that conservative values have benefitted Georgia and it aims to represent “hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding, God-fearing, freedom-loving, Georgia citizen[s].”
On the Democratic side, Dr. Karla Jurvetson, a physician, philanthropist and frequent Democratic donor who lives in the San Francisco area, gave $5 million to Abrams’ One Georgia. Fellow Californian Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, gave $2 million.
A group called Democracy PAC II also donated at least $4 million. The group is funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a longtime major donor to Democrats across the country.
Celebrities on the One Georgia donor list include Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Barbra Streisand.
Georgia’s new leadership committees differ in some important ways from federal political action committees (PACs) that can raise and donate unlimited funds.
Federal PACs typically are not allowed to coordinate directly with the candidate, but Georgia’s leadership committee law allows a candidate to control the committee directly, Martin said. Kemp and Abrams are listed as the respective chairs of their leadership committees, for example.
“This does give the candidate an advantage because they can direct money to the campaign’s most pressing needs, and they have control of the message being sent,” Martin said. “I can certainly see where that would be attractive to candidates.”
Former President Barack Obama spoke in Atlanta on Friday. (photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine)
ATLANTA- With just 10 days to go before the election, former President Barack Obama urged Georgia Democrats Friday to turn out for gubernatorial challenger Stacey Abrams, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and other Democrats down the ballot.
Obama drew a stark contrast between Georgia’s Democratic and Republican candidates, arguing that Warnock and Abrams would best represent the interests of working Georgians.
“The basic, one fundamental question you should be asking yourself is who cares about you, who believes in you?” Obama told the cheering crowd. “That’s the choice in this election.”
Obama lauded both Warnock, who is seeking a full term in the Senate, and Abrams, who is trying for a second time to beat Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
“You have Democrats like Rev. Warnock who have shown they will take on the drug companies to lower prices and get the oil industry to clean up its act and pass laws to make housing more affordable and make sure that corporations bring jobs here into Georgia instead of overseas,” Obama said.
“[Abrams is] focused on making sure every Georgian has an opportunity to get ahead. That’s why she wants to invest Georgia’s surplus in good schools, a higher standard of living and more affordable health care and housing.”
Obama pointed to the two parties’ differences on abortion as another reason why Georgians should vote blue.
“Who will fight for your freedoms?” he asked. “Is it gonna be GOP politicians, judges who think they get to decide when you start a family, how many children you have, who you marry? Or is it Democratic leaders who believe the freedom to make these personal intimate decisions belong to every American, not to politicians in Washington?”
Obama warned that Republicans capturing control of both the U.S. House and Senate could put America just a presidential election away from a nationwide ban on abortion.
“Most of the GOP … are not even pretending that the rules apply to them anymore,” he said. “Last year, Stacey’s opponent [Kemp] signed one of the most aggressive voter suppression laws.”
“Democracy is at stake in this election. That’s why it’s not enough to elect Democrats at the top of the ticket. That’s why we need to work just as hard to elect secretaries of state like [Georgia Democratic candidate] Bee Nguyen.”
Obama also zeroed in on recent serious allegations about Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s character and preparation for office.
“Herschel Walker was a heck of a football player,” Obama said, referring to Walker’s star turn as a University of Georgia running back. “But Walker is not prepared to hold a Senate seat. Remember, these are issues of character. You deserve better.”
State Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta, who is running for Attorney General, and state Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta, who is running for Secretary of State, also spoke at the event.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
