Georgia Senate Poll: Herschel Walker 47%, Raphael Warnock 45%

The poll comes after former President Trump cheered a potential Walker campaign. “Run Herschel, run!” Trump said, also noting Walker’s football career as “legendary” in Georgia, where he attended college at the University of Georgia and won the Heisman Trophy in the 1980s before embarking on a successful NFL career.

Chip Lake, a Republican operative in Georgia, said:

If he truly has an interest in running for U.S. Senate in Georgia and representing our party and our state, I would hope he would move back here and have meetings with activists and people in the community and make the case that, “Hey, this is something I want to do and I’m ready for what’s going to come my way.”

Lake worked as an adviser to former Rep. Doug Collins, who lost in the 2020 Georgia Senate primary to then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Collins has not ruled out campaigning for Senate or challenging Gov. Brian Kemp in the GOP primary in 2022.

Walker, however, has a few qualities that may attract the attention of Georgia voters. The first is his notable fame in the state as an athletic icon. The second is Walker’s relationship with former President Trump, who has begun rolling out endorsements, along with raising money for candidates he supports.

During the 2020 presidential election, Walker defended the former president as a television surrogate, tweeting, “Remember @realDonaldTrump in 2016 when they didn’t want to fight for you but the PEOPLE DID. These same people and MILLIONS MORE are still with you fighting and these PEOPLE won’t forget either!! #TRUMP4moreyears.”