Walker, a football legend in a state that is sports-crazed, has a strong lead in Georgia’s primary. He is supported by former President Donald Trump. This makes him attractive to the incumbent governor. Brian Kemp and David Perdue are running a bruising primary election.
Walker refuses to be involved at the moment and is expressing frustration with the governor’s election. Many Republicans are concerned that a nasty campaign between Kemp, Perdue and the GOP could lead to a split GOP heading into November and possibly cost them the governorship in a state where they have dominated for over two decades.
Walker is open to all sides in Georgia’s GOP race for governor
FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Save America rally in Perry (Ga.) on September 25, 2021. Walker has a message to the Republicans in the tight race in Georgia for the party’s governorship: Don’t depend on me for now. Walker, a football legend running in Georgia’s primary is well ahead of Trump. Walker has refused to participate and is expressing frustration at the governor’s negative tone. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)
ATLANTA (AP), Herschel Walker has a message to Republicans who are pursuing each other in their quest for the nomination for Georgia governor: Do not count on me.
Walker, a football legend in a state that is sports-crazed and whose Senate campaign was backed by former President Donald Trump is well ahead in Georgia’s primary. This makes him attractive to the incumbent governor. Brian Kemp and David Perdue are running a bruising primary election.
Walker refuses to be involved at the moment and is expressing frustration with the governor’s election. Many Republicans are concerned that a nasty campaign between Kemp, Perdue and the GOP could lead to a split GOP heading into November and possibly cost them the governorship in a state where they have dominated for over two decades.
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“I don’t support either of them.” I’m mad at both of them,” Walker told a University of North Georgia audience last month, according to audio obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Later, he told Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, nationally syndicated conservative radio hosts that “intersquad fight” was distracting him from his efforts to unify the party.
He said, “I told people that I was upset because we had some strong candidates running.” “We can’t continue to fight against each other when this country is in pain.”
This anxiety is particularly acute in Georgia, where Republicans attribute the loss in 2021 of two Senate seats to party infighting following the 2020 presidential election. These defeats gave Democrats the Senate majority.
Trump, who narrowly won Georgia in 2020, and has made the state the centerpiece of his lie about the election being stolen is not doing anything to ease tensions. He seems to be micromanaging his efforts to defeat Kemp. This is something he claims he cannot do because Biden won in Georgia.
Perdue was one of the 2021 defeated senators. The former president responded by publicly recruiting Perdue to run for governor. Trump made it clear for Perdue by persuading Vernon Jones, a loyalist running for governor to leave the field to run for a congressional seat instead with his explicit backing.
The GOP dynamic contrasts with the simple alignment of the Democratic side between incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock and Stacey Abrams who is the almost certain nominee for governor. They have been political friends for many years. Abrams’ strong support was a key factor in Warnock’s rise to the Senate in 2021. They are likely to run closely linked campaigns that focus on many of the same issues including Medicaid expansion and voting rights protection.
A Trump spokesperson did no immediate respond to a request to comment on this story. According to someone familiar with the conversations between the camps, Walker’s political team has not spoken to Walker about his endorsement for the governor’s race. The person requested anonymity to discuss internal operations.
According to spokesperson Cody Hall, Kemp never sought Walker’s blessing. Perdue’s campaign did not respond to questions regarding whether Perdue sought Walker’s help.
Walker is not without problems. He has been scrutinized for his past threats to violence, business dealings and his policies in the Senate race. He is seen as a strong front-runner for the primary partly because of his celebrity status after leading the University of Georgia in the 1980 season to a national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy 1982.
Walker is supported by many Kemp and Perdue voters. There is no incentive for him or his supporters to go mad. Randy Evans, an Atlanta lawyer who was once Trump’s ambassador to Luxembourg, is supporting Walker.
Evans claimed Walker is the “900-pound gorilla of the primary.” Evans stated that Herschel is more than any of them combined.
However, Trump loyalists believe Walker will support Perdue.
“I believe you’re going have a united Trump ticket,” stated Debbie Dooley (a national tea party leader who was an early backer for Trump’s 2016 candidacy). She lives in suburban Atlanta.
Walker has pledged support for the primary winner. Spokesperson Mallory Blount stated that Walker is “laser-focused” on uniting the party to defeat Sen. Warnock.
Chip Lake, a Georgia Republican political consultant, believes that Walker could “finesse” the situation by appearing alongside Trump and Perdue at rallies without giving an explicit endorsement.
Lake stated, “I think Herschel could share the stage with him and David Perdue, and say, “Look, I don’t take a formal role in the primary for governor. But what I am doing here is I’m here alongside my friend Donald Trump. And I’m proud that he’s supporting us.” They can thread that needle.
Walker’s help in evading any Trump demands was a relationship that dates back to their entry into politics. Walker was a member of the Trump-owned New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League. He also vacationed with Trump’s children.
“President Trump has been an excellent friend of mine for many years. Walker said that Trump is a great man with a great family. He will be my friend, but he doesn’t run Georgia.
Walker also has connections to Kemp dating back to Walker’s time at the University of Georgia.
Kemp was close friends with Daniel Dooley (son of famed Bulldog football coach Vince Dooley). (The Dooleys do not have any connection to Debbie Dooley. Kemp recalled how he and his friend stormed onto the field following the 1980 game, when Walker won his first collegiate touchdown after beating Bill Bates of Tennessee.
Kemp recalls that Daniel and I rushed to the field after the match and somehow managed to squeeze in with the team and get into the locker room. “So, I’ve known Herschel a lot and I know many people who know Herschel well. You know that he’s just an amazing guy and a damn good dawg.
