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Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker went toe to toe in Savannah, Georgia, on Friday in one of the political season’s most anticipated debates as the latter seeks to take away the former’s Senate seat.
Walker, the Republican nominee and a state football legend making his first run for office, bore in, tying Warnock again and again to the unpopular Biden administration and its record on the economy, crime, and foreign affairs.
Warnock, the incumbent Democrat and a pastor leading the Atlanta church once led by Martin Luther King, emphasized his record on behalf of ordinary people in areas like health care and student loan debt relief.
Moderators Tina Tyus-Shaw for Fox’s Savannah affiliate and Buck Lanford from its Atlanta station asked tough questions. They kept a tight leash on the two men as they interrupted each other and diverted from the question at hand to get in a last word about the one before it.Control of the Senate
The close Georgia race will help determine control of the Senate, currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. It is rated a tossup by Real Clear Politics. Its survey of multiple polls shows Warnock ahead an average of 3 percentage points, within the margin of error.
The moderators asked questions on a wide range of issues, from minimum wage to gun violence to the threat of nuclear war. They touched on but didn’t dwell upon the personal issues that have led to endless mudslinging. That has come chiefly in attack ads against Walker, with which the well-financed Warnock campaign has been blanketing the airwaves since June.
Walker slid smoothly off the serious questions about his past, including domestic violence and children born out of wedlock. He said he’d been transparent about his history, writing a book years ago about his mental health struggles, and emphasized his support for others struggling with those. The pro-life candidate denied having paid for a woman’s abortion or asking her to have one.
Warnock was asked about his ex-wife’s seeking more child support and about his church evicting low-income tenants from housing its charity owns because they fell behind in their rent.
