Ahead of the first and only debate between GOP candidate Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock, there was concerns about how the Republican would perform, given his tendency to make erratic and unpredictable comments.
Warnock himself played down his hopes of performing well in a face off against the incumbent, telling reporters in September how he is “not that smart” and is just hoping to “do my best.”
However, barring one bizarre incident where he pulled out a badge he claimed was proof that he previously worked as in law enforcement, Walker appeared not to falter too much on stage.
Crucially, Warnock also did not land any blows which could affect Walker’s chances in the close Senate race. Instead, Warnock made references to the Republican having a “problem with the truth” without going into specific details about his rival beyond mentioning how, unlike Walker, he had “never pretended to be a police officer.”
With the debate taking place just days before in-person voting begins in Georgia, Dr. Bernard Tamas, associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University, said that it is “unlikely to change the dynamics” of the Senate race, which polls suggest may be forced into a run-off.
“Walker did not make any major mistakes, though his speech was often stilted and he sometimes stumbled in minor ways,” Tamas told Newsweek.
“He did not seem to understand the issues around the hospital closings in Georgia, appeared to forget the term ‘minimum wage,’ and gave a confusing answer about capping the cost of insulin.
“Still, none of these mistakes were disastrous.”
Tamas added that Warnock’s strategy appeared to be more cautious, opting to “sporadically” attack the controversies surrounding Walker.
In the past few months, Walker has been hit with a number of scandals about his personal and private life. These include the recent claims he paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, despite now being against the procedure.
Walker denied the abortion allegations, and said he did not know who the woman at the center of the claims was. It later emerged the woman who Walker apparently paid to have an abortion in 2009 went on to give birth to one of his four children—three of whom Walker did not publicly acknowledge before his Senate campaign.
Walker’s was also campaign website also falsely claimed that he had graduated from the University of Georgia, which he left in his junior year to play professional football, with Walker also found to have falsely stated he worked as an FBI agent.
“Walker did not collapse, but he also did not deliver a knockout, and Warnock did not appear to further harm Walker’s struggling campaign,” Tamas told Newsweek.
While Warnock is on top in all the most recent opinion polls, the Democrat has not been able to increase his lead over Walker in the wake of the paid-for abortion allegations.
Crucially, the polls show that Warnock has not gained enough support to take him about the 50 percent of votes needed to win the November election outright, with Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver seemingly pulling some votes away.
If no candidate can get over 50 percent next month, the top two will advance into a December 6 runoff. Warnock eventually won the Georgia Senate seat in January 2021 in a run-off victory over Republican Kelly Loeffler, helping tip control of the Senate to Democrats.
