Both campaigns used Saturday’s Southeastern Conference championship game between Georgia and the Louisiana State University Tigers to appeal to voters ahead of Tuesday’s Senate runoff.
In an ad aired to millions watching the Southeastern Championship game on Saturday night, Walker’s former football coach praised his “drive” and work ethic. Democrats, meanwhile, showed footage of voters reacting in disbelief to Walker’s musings on his campaign trail, including vampire comparisons. and a werewolf.
These viral comments were a turning point for 55-year-old Scott Hay. He said he voted for Walker in November, but he came to regret it after learning more about the Republican candidate, including claims from his past. He will vote for Warnock on Tuesday.
“I’m a Republican and I’ve never voted anything but Republican. I can’t vote for Herschel Walker,” Hay said as he waited outside the Mercedes-Benz stadium. Hay says: How bad can he be? Because I don’t like Warnock at all. But he’s pretty bad. ”
The SEC Championship Game — just the latest intersection of sports and politics in Georgia — is a head-to-head race that could soften the very thin Democratic majority in the Senate, a sprint that will put basic voters out and change some minds. exemplified. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, is seeking a six-year term to expire after winning a runoff to replace a senator who resigned due to health problems. He outperformed Walker by about 1 percentage point in his November 8 general election, but fell just short of his 50-percentage threshold needed to avoid the runoff vote.
More than 1.8 million Georgians — just over a quarter of active voters — cast their ballots during the early voting period, which ended Friday, leading to the election. officials saidFriday’s voters also smashed state polls daily record Early voting surpassed 350,000. With polls still on the horizon, both parties say their campaign hinges on voter turnout, pouring resources into door knocks, phone calls, and last-minute campaign stops.
Despite the barrage of advertising and outreach, some Georgians were unaware of the run-off vote at Saturday’s game, reflecting the challenge of getting people to vote a second time.
“I don’t have time to follow all the news,” said Rico Hutchinson, 39, who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 and Warnock in November. He didn’t know he had a second election.
Warnock held rallies in the Atlanta area and Augusta, Georgia on Saturday, highlighting his support from worker groups and hosting evening events aimed at Asian-American voters. Walker took the bus on his tour and went to a parking lot near his championship game. Some attendees were thrilled to meet and shake hands with football legends.
Lisa Renfroe, a 46-year-old dental hygienist, dismissed “defamatory ads” against Walker and said voters “need to focus on the future.” Stopped by at a Walker event nearby.
Asked to rate Republican enthusiasm for the runoff, Renfro replied simply, “Pray.”
Republicans continue to vote for Walker to vote against the Biden administration, hoping that persistent concerns about inflation and crime will remain powerful motivators. Casting Warnock as a credible vote on Biden’s agenda, he echoed a popular conservative criticism of the “awakening” in schools, sports and government agencies.
Democrats attacked first candidate Walker as unfit to serve in the Senate, amplifying gaffes from his campaign trajectory and highlighting incidents from his past. Two ex-girlfriends who are accused of domestic violence allege that Walker paid for the abortion. Walker denies their allegations. The candidate has spoken out about his mental health struggles and called himself a changed man.
With the race no longer determining control of the Senate, Democrats secured 50 seats in November.
Democrats think it’s good news for Mr. Warnock. Mr. Warnock is trying to frame his campaign based on his personal character, appealing directly to squeamish Republicans about Mr. Walker.
“The material used by the Democrats who showed up in November is still loosely on the Democratic-leaning voters in Georgia — at least in a much bigger sense than the Republicans — for the outside group. pointed out as one of the issues that still motivates Democrats: Georgia’s ban on post-six-week abortions was reopened last month after a legal battle.
Republicans want renewed support from Governor Bryan Kemp (Republican) backs Walker, who has no other Republican candidate left on the ballot, to help win voters. Warnock ran ahead of other Democrats on his November party ticket, with Republicans sweeping other constituencies statewide. Also, about 200,000 people voted for Kemp in the general election, but not for Walker.
Saturday’s event highlighted the Democratic Party’s focus on Asian-American voters, who tend to vote Democrat and whose voter turnout has surged dramatically in recent years. At one Chinatown mall, members of parliament such as progressive caucus chairman Pramila Jayapal (D.W.) joined Asian-American community leaders and celebrities such as actor Daniel Dae Kim.
A group called the Asian American Advocacy Fund has invested heavily in the midterm elections, saying it is working to knock on more than 70,000 doors and call more than 250,000 Asian American voters. said Nadia Belkin, who heads a national network of Asian-American groups in the United States. Belkin, executive director of the left-leaning Asian American Power Network, said:
A scramble to ensure a smooth election and a broader struggle for access to ballots dictated most of the runoff votes. A judge on Friday ruled that Cobb County, one of Georgia’s most populous counties, could not vote by mail ballot because election officials did not submit the form within the timeframe required by law. ruled that it is necessary to extend the deadline for receiving
Cobb failed to mail more than 3,400 absentee ballots to voters who requested them, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several Cobb residents. The county also said an administrative error prevented him from mailing over 1,000 absentee ballots in the general election.
The county blames inexperienced and overworked staff for both incidents, but when the lawsuits were filed, all ballots had been mailed, but due to postal service delays due to the Thanksgiving holiday. A county spokesperson told The Washington Post that mailing out ballots as required by law was “impossible due to the Thanksgiving holiday and high demand.”
In a statement, Secretary of State Brad Ravensperger condemned the judge’s ruling, arguing that “changing state law at the behest of political activists on the eve of an election is a terrible idea.”
On Saturday, the state election commission called an emergency meeting to discuss whether to file its own lawsuit to stop the deadline extension. It was one of the most important motions discussed by the Board since its review by
After an hour of debate, the state board of elections decided to launch an investigation into Cobb County for recurring issues in the election and to monitor lawsuits moving through court.
The video conference came to an abrupt end when the porn flooded in.