Georgia Swing Voters Sound Off On Herschel Walker Ahead Of Runoff: “I Don’t Think I Felt Comfortable Trusting Walker At All”

Axios Atlanta: “Voters said they were largely influenced by issues of character, experience and trust.”

The Hill: “One GOP operative… listed Kemp’s absence as a big problem for Walker.”

Two new reports this morning are highlighting Herschel Walker’s major problems entering the runoff election. Axios Atlantareported on a recent focus group of swing voters who said they don’t feel “comfortable trusting Walker at all” and “would never feel good about voting for somebody like that.”

This morning The Hill also detailed how GOP operatives are conceding that Brian Kemp’s absence from the ticket is “​​a big problem for Walker.”

See for yourself:

Axios Atlanta: 1 big thing: Zooming in on Georgia swing voters

By Emma Hurt

November 14, 2022

• Most Trump-to-Biden swing voters in Georgia in our latest Axios Engagious/Schlesinger focus groups did not vote for Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker.

• Voters said they were largely influenced by issues of character, experience and trust, and none plan to change their votes in the runoff set for Dec. 6.
  
  
• Why it matters: Walker received nearly 203,000 fewer votes than Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week. The Senate runoff in three weeks will hinge on both parties’ ability to turn out existing voters without the draw of a broader ticket.
  
  
• The big picture: Eight of the 11 who voted in the midterms supported Warnock — and all cited concerns about Walker’s character, experience or trustworthiness.
  
  
• “I doubt Walker really understands a lot of normal people, regular people. I just don’t think he’s in touch with the real world,” said Susan O. of Augusta, Ga. who identified herself as a Republican but voted for… Warnock.
  
  
• Joyce C. of Smyrna said: “I don’t think I felt comfortable trusting Walker at all.”
  
  
• Andy J. of Woodstock, Ga. said Walker was “propped up there to be a Republican puppet.” He added that as a husband and a father, he could not get over the reports of Walker’s domestic abuse: “I would never feel good about voting for somebody like that and look my daughter in the eye.”

The Hill: Herschel Walker has a problem: Kemp’s not on the December ballot

By Al Weaver

November 14, 2022

• Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has a Kemp problem: Gov. Brian Kemp, a fellow Republican who rolled to a big victory in Tuesday’s midterms, won’t be on the ballot in next month’s Senate runoff election.
  
  
• That’s a big issue for Walker, who should have been helped by Kemp’s presence on the ballot on Tuesday.
  
  
• Kemp outran Walker by 210,000 votes, putting the GOP Senate candidate behind the eight ball heading into the runoff.
  
  
• “Given the events of this week, he starts as an underdog,” said one GOP operative involved in the midterms, who listed Kemp’s absence as a big problem for Walker.
  
  
• A second national GOP operative said the Republican’s biggest challenge will be winning over suburbanites.

• In garnering 210,000 fewer votes than Kemp, Walker clearly lost some suburban voters who voted for a Republican governor but a Democratic senator in Warnock.

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