The Daily Beast reported Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. What will the GOP do now, and what could the story mean for Walker’s campaign?
The first October surprise of the 2022 election landed late Monday, and it’s one that could have major implications for control of the Senate.
The Daily Beast reported that Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Walker has campaigned on an antiabortion platform — with no exceptions — and has said that he always opposed such rights. The has not independently confirmed the report, and Walker is denying it.
His son Christian, a conservative who had previously indicated that he supported Walker’s campaign, is also now speaking out against him, saying that his dad “threatened to kill us” — apparently referring to him and his mother — and that the family repeatedly had to move to flee “your violence.” National Republicans have indicated they’ll back their candidate.
So where do things go from here?
What’s clear right now is there is a reason Republicans are standing by Walker: They have little other choice. Georgia law doesn’t allow a party to replace a candidate this late in the process.
“Any vacancy which occurs in any party nomination filled by a primary and which is created by reason of the withdrawal of a candidate less than 60 days prior to the date of the election shall not be filled,” the law says.
Also factoring into the GOP’s continued support: The party was increasingly counting on Georgia to make its Senate majority.
With polls showing Republican candidates underperforming the fundamentals in several key Senate races, Walker — for all his previous problems, which were many — hasn’t lagged as badly as some. And just two weeks ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) named Georgia alongside Nevada as the GOP’s best pickup opportunities, apparently over others in Arizona, Colorado and New Hampshire.
