Raphael Warnock y Herschel Walker. /
The State is headed for a second electoral round as neither of the two candidates for the Senate reach more than 50% of the votes
The Senate race for Georgia is in a fist. Democratic and Republican candidates Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will once again test their strength in a second round that will take place on December 6, since neither has managed to exceed 50% of the vote (libertarian Chase Oliver got around 2% of the ballots.
The race is also open in Nevada and Arizona. In the first, the Republicans are ahead in the count, while in the second, the victory for the moment is Democrats. If things continue like this, Georgia will have the key to the Senate, because the Democrats would need a victory to reach 50 seats and maintain their narrow majority thanks to the quality vote of the vice president, Kamala Harris. If the Republicans win, they would add 51 seats and the upper house would become controlled by the conservatives, just as what will happen, most likely, in the House of Representatives.
Historic Republican stronghold, Georgia was key in Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. He won by less than 12,000 votes and catapulted him to the White House. Trump, for his part, took advantage of the narrow margin to fuel the theory of voter fraud.
These are the two candidates who can be decisive for the next two years in the United States.
Raphael Warnock
Warnock, during election night. /
Raphael Warnock made history in the January 2021 election by becoming the first black senator in Georgia history. He won the second round of elections after the resignation of his predecessor. Now, he hopes to obtain a six-year mandate if he wins the second round of the elections in Georgia, which will take place on December 6. Born in Savannah 53 years ago, he obtained 49.4% of the vote in the first round, compared to 48.5% for his rival. The rest went to Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
Warnock is a brilliant speaker, seasoned for years as a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He preaches from the same pulpit from which Martin Luther King spoke on his day. His appointment as a senator from Georgia, a state with a slave-owning past, was seen as a major advance in the rights of the black community.
Warnock’s campaign spared no expense. It invested 135.8 million dollars, while Walker’s spent 32.4 million, the Federal Election Commission reported. The Democrats tried to spread the scandals that emerged around the trajectory of their Republican rival and the accusations of their previous partners. Although Warnock has also been accused by his ex-wife of sexist violence and of not caring for the children whose custody they share.
Strictly politically, he emphasized the initiatives promoted in the two years that Joe Biden has been in the White House and defended some of his initiatives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act or student loans. He also took advantage of his activity as a senator in the year and a half that he has been in office.
Herschel Walker
Walker, during election night. /
Herschel Walker is a former American football star. He was born in Wrightsville in 1962 and played for 12 years in the NFL. His brilliant past as an athlete is the only thing that has withstood the stifling public scrutiny of his life since he decided to run for senator. Because Walker’s, which has obtained 48.5% of the vote in the state, has been, by far, one of the most controversial campaigns in the country.
Walker bragged about a military career that never existed and lied about his work at six hospitals. But without a doubt the most explosive thing about his campaign had to do with his position on abortion. A staunch anti-abortionist, he defends its abolition even in cases of rape or incest. But in 2009 he himself paid for an abortion for an old girlfriend. The woman, “fed up” with Walker’s lies and “hypocrisy” during the campaign, sent to a local newspaper the receipt from the clinic where she had an abortion, a bank receipt with a photocopy of a check signed by Walker and a card from her with the message “Recover”. Walker also admitted the existence of three children with three different women.
To counter his scandals, Walker focused on economic and cultural battle. Strongly backed by Trump and other heavyweights like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Walker tried to focus his campaign on economic and citizen security issues. Two key factors in a state that has suffered from industrial decline. The former sports star also tried to link Warnock to Biden, whom Republicans blame for all the ills.
Historic Republican bastion, although in recent years it has subscribed to alternation, Georgia has a solid Republican base that has voted overwhelmingly for Walker. We will have to see if he continues to do so in a month.