WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) 鈥� Ads with the candidates鈥� ex-wives. Cries of 鈥渓iar鈥� flying in both directions. Stories of a squalid apartment building and . Questioning an opponent鈥檚 independence. His intellect. His . His .
The extended Senate campaign in Georgia between the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, and his Republican challenger, football legend Herschel Walker, has grown increasingly bitter as their nears. With Democrats already , it鈥檚 a striking contrast from two years ago, when the were mostly about which party would control the chamber in Washington.
鈥淗erschel Walker ain鈥檛 serious,鈥� Warnock told supporters recently in central Georgia, saying that Walker 鈥渕ajors in lying鈥� and fumbles the basics of public policy. 鈥淏ut the election is very serious. Don鈥檛 get those two things confused.鈥�
Walker casts Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, as a 鈥渉ypocrite鈥� and servile to President Joe Biden. Underscoring the insult, Walker calls the incumbent 鈥淪cooby-Doo,鈥� complete with an impression of the cartoon hound鈥檚 gibberish.
The broadsides reflect the candidates' between the Nov. 8 general election and runoff to persuade their core supporters to cast another ballot. For Walker, it also means drawing more independents and moderates to his campaign after he underperformed a fellow Republican on the ticket, Gov. Brian Kemp, by 200,000 votes.
Warnock led Walker by 37,000 votes out of almost 4 million cast in the first round, but the senator fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
In many ways, the shift from his first runoff campaign is exactly what Warnock wanted: a straightforward choice between two candidates. Two years ago, then-President Donald Trump, fresh off his defeat, and Biden, then president-elect, to illuminate the national stakes of the races between Warnock and Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Sen. David Perdue as control of the Senate hung in the balance.
Trump ended up alienating his own supporters and many moderates with his false claims of a rigged 2020 presidential election. Victories by Warnock and Ossoff put the Senate at a 50-50 split, with Democrats gaining control by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris' tiebreaking vote. Warnock also became Georgia's first Black senator.
This year, with Warnock vying for a full six-year term after winning the 2021 special election, Democrats have already guaranteed control of the Senate by . A Warnock win at 51-49, meaning that the parties would not have to negotiate a power-sharing agreement.
Warnock鈥檚 preferred emphasis for most of his reelection bid has been his deal-making in Washington and the personal values he brings to the job. It took until the campaign鈥檚 final stages 鈥� only after two women accused Walker, an opponent of abortion rights, of encouraging and paying for their abortions 鈥� for the senator to ratchet up his attacks, arguing Walker is 鈥渦nprepared鈥� and 鈥渦nfit鈥� for the job.
鈥淢y opponent lies about everything,鈥� Warnock said in a recent campaign stop, ticking off a litany of Walker鈥檚 repeated falsehoods and exaggerations. 鈥淗e said he was a police officer. He鈥檚 not. He said he worked for the FBI. He did not. Said he graduated from the University of Georgia. He did not. Said he was valedictorian of his class. He was not. ... He said he had another business with 800 employees. It has eight.鈥�
Walker, alternately, has relished the jousting since he won the GOP nomination in the spring.
鈥淗erschel is a competitor. He鈥檚 very comfortable with the mano a mano,鈥� said Scott Paradise, Walker鈥檚 campaign manager, noting the candidate鈥檚 athletic prowess as a football running back, kickboxer and Olympic bobsledder.
Indeed, Walker takes his attacks right to Warnock鈥檚 strengths as the pastor of the famous church where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. Walker has criticized Warnock over an Atlanta apartment building, owned by a foundation of Warnock鈥檚 church, where residents have complained to The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative media outlet, of eviction notices and poor conditions.
鈥淲hat he鈥檚 doing in this apartment building at Columbia Towers is not right,鈥� Walker said recently at a suburban Atlanta campaign stop. 鈥淵ou shouldn鈥檛 put Jesus鈥� name on what you鈥檙e doing to people, and don鈥檛 put Martin Luther King name on it. ... You鈥檙e not Jesus, and you鈥檙e not Dr. King.鈥�
Warnock, who says no residents of Columbia Tower have been evicted, incorporates Walker鈥檚 attacks into the list of the challenger鈥檚 documented and . 鈥淲hat kind of a person lies on the church?鈥� Warnock said in Macon. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 the first time people attacked Ebenezer Baptist Church. They attacked Martin Luther King Jr. I鈥檓 in good company.鈥�
Still, asked whether he鈥檚 reconsidered his church鈥檚 stewardship of Columbia Towers, Warnock sidestepped: 鈥淚鈥檝e already answered the question. I鈥檓 proud of what my church does to feed and house the hungry and the homeless every single week.鈥�
Walker also accuses Warnock of 鈥済etting rich鈥� as a senator, a nod to the pastor鈥檚 $7,500-a-month housing allowance from the church. The payments are not a violation of Senate ethics rules that limit senators鈥� outside income.
On at least one occasion during the runoff, Walker has suggested Warnock is a negligent father. Warnock told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the comment 鈥渃rossed a line.鈥� Earlier in the campaign, Walker for the first time, doing so only after The Daily Beast reported on their existence. Warnock has not mentioned those children in any of his critiques of Walker.
Walker, meanwhile, has not taken reporters' questions at an open campaign event since late October, when a second accuser came forward to say he had pressured her to have an abortion 鈥� a contradiction of his advocacy as a candidate for . Walker has .
Both candidates' former wives also loom in the campaign, though the two men avoid the topic themselves, leaving the discussion of their marriages mostly to paid advertising. In one ad, Warnock鈥檚 former wife tells Atlanta police that he ran over her foot. The Republican ad doesn鈥檛 note that a police report states that officers found no physical evidence supporting her claim. A Democratic ad features an interview with Walker鈥檚 first wife detailing that he threatened violence against her, circumstances Walker has confirmed in an autobiography.
Since the two men met for their lone debate Oct. 14, Warnock has hammered Walker for a and sometimes flubbing what policy he does discuss.
Warnock promotes his new federal legal provision capping insulin costs for Medicare recipients and notes Walker said diabetics could manage their health by 鈥渆ating right,鈥� a practice that isn鈥檛 enough for insulin-dependent diabetic patients.
鈥淢aybe he ought to apply to be a dietician. I鈥檓 running for the United States Senate,鈥� Warnock said in Macon.
He pounced when Walker declared the United States is 鈥渘ot ready鈥� for climate action and should 鈥渒eep having those gas-guzzling cars鈥� that he said already have 鈥済ood emissions鈥� standards. Warnock added gleeful mockery when Walker recently introduced a tangent about vampires to a campaign speech.
鈥淚 mean, who says that kind of stuff?鈥� Warnock asked supporters.
Warnock's aides say that the personalized arguments help convince core Democrats that they should not sit out the runoff, while also swaying the potentially decisive middle of the electorate in the senator's favor. 鈥淗erschel Walker continues to be bogged down by his pattern of lies and disturbing behavior, all of which led him to underperform鈥� in the first round, said Quentin Fulks, Warnock's campaign manager, in a statement.
From Walker's camp, Paradise insisted that Republicans' best argument remains Warnock's alignment with Democrats on economic policy. Still, he acknowledges the campaign鈥檚 tone has darkened.
鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly going to continue to aggressively prosecute the case against Warnock,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I suspect they鈥檒l do the same.鈥�
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Follow the AP鈥檚 coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
