OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Despite predictions from some Democrats that voter integrity legislation passed by the Republican-led legislature in 2021 would suppress turnout, just the opposite has happened in the Georgia runoff between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker.
In fact, according to a tweet Friday morning from Gabriel Sterling, the Georgia secretary of state’s chief operating officer, there was a record turnout for absentee early voting, with 116,362 having come into his office by then.
“That’s about 8% of turnout so far. And, they can still be returned up to 7 p.m. on election day at the County Elections HQ,” he said, adding: “I imagine we’ve already eclipsed 2018 voting.”
Total votes 2018 4 week runoff: 1,477,454
Total votes 2022 4 week runoff w/ 1 day of early voting, Election Day and 4 days of absentees to be returned: 1,472,515.It's 7:49am so I imagine we've already eclipsed 2018 voting. #gapol pic.twitter.com/E9efvVqvqn
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) December 2, 2022
By Thursday evening, Sterling noted that the Peach State had seen 293,795 voters cast early ballots on that day alone, meaning it would “likely break 1.8 million before the Tuesday election.”
“To put that in perspective, the last midterm runoff had less than 1.5 million votes total in the four-week runoff in 2018,” Sterling added.
Fox News noted further:
About 7 million people are listed as active voters in Georgia, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s Georgia Active Voters Report.
Early voting concludes on Friday and election day is set for Dec. 6.
The contest, which The Wall Street Journal notes is one of the most expensive in congressional history, could help raise the Democrats’ Senate majority by one, should Warnock best [Walker].
Several notable political figures have made the trip to Georgia to campaign on behalf of the respective candidates. On Thursday, former President Barack Obama came to Atlanta to stump for Warnock, while newly reelected Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp has been on the campaign trail for Walker. Also, Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham have made the trip to Georgia to campaign for the former University of Georgia football great and Heisman Trophy winner.
“Former President Trump will hold a tele-rally with Walker ahead Tuesday’s runoff, Republican sources confirmed to Fox News. However, the former president will not travel to the Peach State to hold an in-person rally with Walker,” the outlet continued.
Walker said he believes that the large early turnout is advantageous for him.
“I think the people that are coming out from what I hear and see, it’s going to be a good thing for us,” he told Fox News.
Meanwhile, both camps are courting the more than 1 million Hispanics who live in Georgia, and one analysis said they could decide whether Democrats wind up with a 51-49 majority or if the Senate remains 50-50.
“As the two candidates now face a tight runoff in the spotlight, both parties are convinced that Hispanic American voters, who make up 5% of Georgia voters, could hold the margin needed for a victory,” ADN America reported Friday.
The outlet added:
In Georgia, Hispanic Americans make up the third-largest group, totaling 1.1 million statewide, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Of those 1.1 million Hispanic Americans living in the state, the Georgia Secretary of State has reported there are 300,000 registered voters, and that about 88% of those are “active.”
Of the 1.1 million Hispanic Americans living in the state, the Georgia Secretary of State has reported there are 300,000 registered voters, and that about 88% of those are “active.”
Hispanic American voters gave Warnock an edge of about 80,000 votes on Election Day, according to NBC, and as a result, both progressive and conservative groups are beginning to mobilize organizations in the Peach State to target potential Latino votes.
“If this is a 1% election, it looks like Latinos could provide that key margin,” Matt Barreto, the co-founder and president of Democratic polling firm BSP Research told NBC News.
Earlier this week, Fox News Digital reported that Warnock worked in his younger days as an assistant pastor of a church for 10 years “while it repeatedly hosted a former New York City professor who was ousted over antisemitic and black supremacist teachings.”
The outlet continued: “From 1991 to 2001, Warnock served as youth pastor for six years and then assistant pastor for four years under Rev. Calvin O. Butts at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, several years before he went on to lead the same Atlanta church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor. From 1991 to 1998, Butts’ Abyssinian church hosted Leonard Jeffries as a speaker at least three times. Leonard Jeffries is the uncle of Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is poised to succeed Nancy Pelosi as the next Democratic leader in the House. The congressman said in 2013 that he remained close with his uncle but disagreed with his theories.”
The church also hosted the late Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, in 1995.
