Republicans’ bid to take back a Georgia Senate seat kicked into overdrive this week with former President Donald Trump saying he thinks a big-name candidate will be getting in the race.
Herschel Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Georgia, has been teased as a GOP candidate to take on Sen. Raphael Warnock, an Atlanta Democrat who won a special election earlier this year.
But even if Walker gets in the race, he’d have to win a primary that includes at least one well-known statewide official, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.
Black on Wednesday announced coordinators of campaigns in all 159 counties, including Charles Berry and Chuck Berry in Newton County.
“We’re putting oxygen in the bloodstream of the Republican Party in Georgia,” Black said in a statement. “People are realizing that we are strong and numerous and constitute a majority in Georgia.
“We are hungry to take back the U.S. Senate and put a stop to the regressive agenda Washington is forcing down the throats of Americans.”
In an interview Tuesday on the “Clay and Buck” radio program, Trump said he expects Walker will run in the 2022 Senate race.
Later that day, in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Walker said, “Georgia is my home — I love Georgia, and I love this country. And I believe we need fighters to step forward and help save both.
“Know this much: If I run, I’ll be all-in, and we will do whatever it takes to win for Georgia.”
Walker would have to reestablish Georgia residency if he runs. He is registered to vote in Texas.
Two military veterans, Kelvin King and Latham Saddler, are among the other candidates who have announced Republican bids for the race. Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler is thought to be considering a run for her old seat if Walker doesn’t get in the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler when Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned due to health reasons at the end of 2019, midway through his third term.
That triggered an all-comers special election last year, which went to a Jan. 5 runoff. The victories by Warnock — senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta — and Jon Ossoff in the regular Senate race against Republican incumbent David Perdue — flipped control of the Senate to Democrats.
