COVINGTON, Ga. — Republican Kelvin King says he is the best candidate to challenge Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock for his U.S. Senate seat because of the way he can "cancel" out some of the senator’s inherent advantages.
He also targeted a high-profile, potential Republican opponent for criticism during a recent campaign stop on the Covington Square.
King is owner of a metro Atlanta construction company and a Sandy Springs resident who was a major supporter of former president Donald Trump during the 2020 election.
He brought his tour of every Georgia county to Newton on Wednesday, Aug. 11, as part of an effort to build name recognition before the 2022 primaries in May 2022.
King, a political newcomer, began his first race for an elected office in April by seeking the 2022 Republican nomination for Warnock's U.S. Senate seat.
He and state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black are among a number of Republicans expected to qualify for the GOP nomination to challenge Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta who likely will seek a full six-year term in 2022.
Warnock is considered among the more vulnerable Senate incumbents after narrowly defeating Republican Kelly Loeffler in a special election runoff in January for the right to complete the final two years of a Senate term.
Among those also considering seeking the GOP nomination are Herschel Walker, the Georgia football legend who is a longtime Texas resident. Trump and others have encouraged the Georgia native to move back to run for Warnock's seat.
King, who played football for the Air Force Academy, said Walker was a great football player during his Heisman Trophy-winning career at UGA and in the NFL.
However, he discounted Walker's potential as someone who could be a leader in government.
"He was a legend on the football field. But this is not football," King said.
King said he is the best candidate to challenge Warnock in part because, as a Black candidate, he can counter the state's first Black U.S. senator because he has had many of the same life experiences.
"I can say things others cannot," King said.
King's mother was 15 years old when he was born in Macon and he grew up in poverty in a single-parent home in Mableton in Cobb County.
He later went on to star in football for Pebblebrook High School in Cobb County and earned an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, where he went on to serve in the Air Force for five years.
King is in the midst of his "Un-Cancel America" tour — a reference to charges the Democratic Party favors a "cancel culture."
Dictionary.com defines "cancel culture" as "the phenomenon or practice of publicly rejecting, boycotting, or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions."
However, Republicans have charged Democrats also use it to unfairly smear some groups or institutions merely because they are supported by the GOP.
The tour began July 31 in Rabun County and is set to run through all 159 Georgia counties in 30 days. King and wife, Janelle, traveled though six counties Aug. 11.
