Walker gets off to a fast start, raising $ 3.7 million since Senate bid launched

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has sprinted out of the blocks when it comes to raising money for his Senate campaign to try to topple Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia in the 2022 midterm election.

The former professional and college football star, who won a Heisman Trophy and helped propel the University of Georgia to a national championship, announced Monday that his campaign has grossed $ 3.7 million – or roughly 100,000 $ per day – from its launch in late August until the end of September, which marked the end of the third quarter of fundraising.

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Walker, a key supporter and substitute for President Trump in last year’s election, said in a statement obtained by Fox News that his team was “overwhelmed by the support” of about 50,000 Americans who contributed .

“The National Democrats have already said they plan to spend $ 100 million on this race, and these solid numbers show we’re ready to take on anyone,” he said.

The other three Republicans running for the GOP Senate nomination in Georgia have yet to release their July-September fundraising figures.

Walker is considered the undisputed leader of the GOP Primary, thanks to his high profile in Peach State and the endorsement he received from Trump – who for months encouraged Walker to run and who remains. very popular and influential among Republican voters in Georgia and across the country. And recent polls suggest Walker holds a large lead over his Republican rivals.

Walker has made few appearances in the campaign since entering the race, and his Republican critics continue to note that Walker, as a first-time candidate, has not been tested under fire campaign and did not elaborate on its position on many key issues. . And they point out that Walker comes with a lot of potential political baggage that could give his opponents ammunition – from his well-documented struggles with a mental illness known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, and accusations from his ex- woman to be “physically violent”.

As the GOP aims to regain the Senate majority they lost in January when Democrats narrowly swept Georgia’s Senate twin elections, they are playing hard in defense, defending 20 of the 34 seats up for grabs, including five seats. open – with two of them in the crucial battlefields of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

But they also see opportunities to return blue seats to red in four states, including Georgia. And they see Warnock as one of the most vulnerable Democrats vying for re-election in 2022.

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Warnock defeated Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed by GOP Governor Brian Kemp, by a very narrow margin on January 5, to serve the last two years in the tenure of former GOP Senator Johnny Isakson, who has resigned in 2019 for health reasons. But defeating Warnock next year won’t be easy, as Georgia’s first black senator has set fundraising records since taking office.

Warnock has yet to file its third quarter fundraising figures, but it raised $ 7.2 million in the April-June second quarter and grossed over $ 10.5 million in his campaign coffers in early July.