Sen. Raphael Warnock of the Democratic Party and his Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, have an additional opportunity to convince Georgian voters to send them to Washington thanks to the Senate campaign’s extension. However, the runoff appears different from the general election in November because party control of Congress is not at risk and there are no other contenders on the ticket.
The results of the AP VoteCast survey illustrate some of the challenges each candidate faces on Tuesday. Walker will need to turn out a GOP base that wasn’t enamored with him to start with, and do it without the more popular Gov. Brian Kemp on the ballot. Warnock must get his coalition of some lower-propensity voting groups to turn out.
And both candidates have to motivate voters despite a predetermined balance of power in Washington.
The wide-ranging VoteCast survey of more than 3,200 midterm voters in the state provides a detailed look at the Warnock and Walker coalitions and the attitudes that defined their choices this year. The data reveals advantages — and disadvantages — for both candidates in the runoff.
Ask Raphael Warnock’s voters what they think about the election, and it’s often criticism of Walker that first comes tumbling out.
“You’ve got a very ignorant, ignorant, ignorant fellow that’s running in Herschel Walker,” said Dennis Paris, an entertainer who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Jonesboro and voted for Warnock this week in Morrow. “I can’t see going through another thing like we had with an ignorant Trump making decisions for us, not caring about the people.
Even many Georgia Republicans who are voting for Walker, the former University of Georgia and pro football star, say they’re not so much motivated by liking him as by disliking President Joe Biden’s administration and Warnock’s support for Biden’s policies
Tuesday’s runoff is far from settled. Warnock led Walker in the general election on Nov. 8 but came up short of a majority, necessitating another round of voting under state law.
Leave a Reply