AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hours after new allegations were made public that Herschel Walker had pushed a second woman to have an abortion, dozens of his supporters gathered around a stage built to hear from the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.
The vast majority of them had already made up their minds to back Walker over Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. Several said the latest ripple in a campaign full of controversies had not shaken their support.
Vicki Grant and Karen Blackburn, friends who live in Evans, had traveled with their husbands to hear Walker speak for the first time. But they had already voted for him and had no qualms about it.
“Herschel Walker reflects my conservative values,” Blackburn said. “He is tough on crime; I agree with that. I think he will vote the way that I would like a senator to vote for what’s important to me.”
Grant said Walker’s mission, to help give Republicans control of the U.S. Senate and prevent President Joe Biden from carrying out more of his agenda, trumped any concerns she might have.
“He’s a rubber stamper of Biden,” Grant said of Warnock. “He’s really not doing anything to impress the people around this area.”
Recent polling conducted for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicates that Walker’s controversies have affected how voters perceive him. But they have not given Warnock a leg up in a race where the candidates remain essentially tied.
More than half of the voters polled, 52%, said they dislike how Walker handles himself personally, and 53% said they had an unfavorable impression of him.
Warnock polled higher on both questions. Forty-one percent of voters said they disliked him and 44% viewed him unfavorably. Nearly half, 49%, said they had a favorable opinion of Warnock.
Only 39% of voters said they considered Walker to be honest, and 38% described him as having good leadership skills. Meanwhile, half of those polled said Warnock was honest and 58% gave positive responses to his leadership skills. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 65%, said Warnock understands the issues that will come before Congress, while only 42% said that Walker does.
Still, when it comes to who they will vote for this election, the two candidates got about the same amount of support. The AJC poll showed Walker at 46% and Warnock at 45%, a difference within the poll’s margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
The poll was conducted Oct. 16-27 by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs and included responses from 1,022 likely general election voters.
Joe Salcone, who lives in Tifton, was among the respondents who said Walker was not honest but that he was considering voting for the Republican anyway.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’ve gotten not much of a choice on either side,” he told the AJC recently.
Salcone, who said he is a former Democrat who grew uncomfortable with the party’s move toward the left, said he may ultimately choose the Libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver, or skip the Senate race when he casts his ballot. But he definitely would not vote for Warnock over Walker.
“It’s the best of an awful situation,” he said. “I would go red; either that or not vote.”
Many conservatives believe Warnock is too aligned with Biden, voting in favor of legislation they believe will increase the national debt, such as coronavirus relief and climate change legislation. They also have criticized Warnock for supporting Biden initiatives such as student loan forgiveness, which critics believe will unfairly penalize working-class Americans.
Some Walker supporters say Warnock also has controversies on his record.
Most often, they mention that Warnock’s ex-wife accused him of running over her foot with a vehicle during an argument. Atlanta police were called to the scene and said they noticed no visible injuries to her, and Warnock was not charged.
Walker has faced numerous accusations during the campaign, including allegations that he threatened the life of his ex-wife. Two other women have said that he paid to terminate their pregnancies, even though he supports an absolute ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.
Many Walker supporters attribute his political and personal blunders to mental health issues, including a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, which he has spoken publicly about. And most Republicans say that they are willing to look past these allegations because Walker is crucial to their overall goal of winning more power in Washington.
Roswell resident Gurtej Narang wouldn’t say whether he supported Walker during the primary, but he voted a straight GOP ticket during early voting for the general election. That means he cast his vote for Walker.
“He’s the Republican on the ballot, and I’d say he would beat Raphael Warnock any day and I support him 100%,” Narang said, adding later: “Herschel Walker, I believe, will vote the right way. And that’s why I’m aligning and voting for him.”
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