OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
GOP contender Herschel Walker is well on his way to renewing his campaign to oust incumbent Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock after neither man reached the required 50 percent threshold during Tuesday’s midterm election.
According to Fox News, a day after the race went to a runoff, Walker’s campaign hauled in $3.3 million in what is expected to be a hugely expensive race after both camps spent an eye-watering $241 million in the general election.
The following day, Walker’s campaign brought in another $4.3 million, according to officials.
“Walker, who finished roughly 35,000 votes behind Warnock out of nearly 4 million votes cast in the Senate election in the battleground state of Georgia, returned to the campaign trail Thursday, teaming up with conservative Sen. Ted Cruz at a large rally in Canton, a small city about 40 miles north of Atlanta,” the outlet reported. “Walker’s campaign tells Fox News that it plans to be back up on television with an ad later this week.”
Fox News Digital added:
The source said that it would make sense for Trump and for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also extremely popular with conservatives nationwide, to stump with Walker in Georgia in the weeks ahead and added that the campaign is looking into the possibility of making that happen. The source added that GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp may join Walker on the campaign trail as early as next week.
Kemp, who comfortably won re-election on Tuesday with an eight-point victory over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in a rematch of their 2018 nail-biter, said Wednesday on “Fox and Friends,” “I feel very good about getting Herschel across the finish line.”
Meanwhile, in Alaska, incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 riot, will face off against challenger and former state official Kelly Tshibaka after neither of them managed to receive 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
According to NBC News, Tshibaka managed to receive 44.3 percent, besting Murkowski’s 42.8 percent, with around 75 percent of the vote counted as of Thursday morning.
“In Alaska’s Senate race, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has faced a serious challenge from fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka. Because no candidate on the ballot will reach 50%, the contest now proceeds to a ranked-choice runoff as per the state’s rules. While the seat will be won by a Republican, the ranked-choice voting process will determine the winner,” the outlet reported.
Prior to the election, reports said that Trump was planning to announce his 2024 presidential plans on Nov. 14, but now that the Senate race in Georgia has yet to be decided, political consultants and pundits are urging him to hold off so as not to distract from that race.
“Every ounce of Republican energy, every last ounce, needs to go into that Georgia race because it could potentially be what makes or breaks the Senate,” former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during her Fox News program, “Outnumbered,” on Wednesday:
Trump press secretary turned Fox host Kayleigh McEnany says Trump should put his campaign declaration on pause until after a Georgia Senate runoff, pointedly does not recommend he go campaign for Walker but says DeSantis should. pic.twitter.com/bklkjUxqa1
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) November 9, 2022
HARRIS FAULKNER, FOX NEWS: What was the biggest surprise for you last night?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: There were a lot. The fact that someone like Fetterman could win. We’ve gone through his record and some of the issues that he’s been dealing with personally. It was stunning to see.
The outstanding Senate races. Let’s say we pick up two of the three that you mentioned. There’s a very real likelihood it could all come down to Georgia. What does that give you? That gives you heebie-jeebies of last time around, 2020.
Let me say this. Every ounce of Republican energy, every last ounce, needs to go into that Georgia race because it could potentially be what makes or breaks the Senate, getting Herschel Walker over the finish line.
I know there’s a temptation to talk about 2024. No, no, no, no. 2022 is not over. Every Republican energy needs to go to grinding the Biden agenda to a halt. And that could go straight through the state of Georgia.
FAULKNER: Does that include Trump?
MCENANY: He needs to put it on pause, absolutely. He will make his own decision.
FAULKNER: Does he go to Georgia?
MCENANY: I’m not advising any contender, DeSantis, Trump, whomever, no one announces 2024 until we get through December 6.
FAULKNER: Do you see the former president, a need for him to go to Georgia?
MCENANY: We have to make strategic calculations. Governor DeSantis should be welcomed to the state, given what happened last night. You have to look at the realities on the ground and Herschel Walker. We have to win the Senate. That’s it, we’ve got to win the Senate.
