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Walker-Warnock debate: Everything you need to know

Adding to Georgia’s already contentious Senate race, Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock will meet Friday in one of the most highly anticipated debates of the midterm elections.

Tonight’s primetime debate is the first time the U.S. Senate rivals will meet face-to-face. It is also the first political debate of Walker’s career. Our partners at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that dozens of out-of-state reporters are converging on Savannah to cover the event.

>> 95.5 WSB will air the debate LIVE tonight, with coverage beginning at 7 p.m.

The 7 p.m. debate is scheduled to last for one hour. Following Walker’s request for a live audience, organizers reportedly picked a 440-seat venue in the new JW Marriot at Plant Riverside. But access is tightly controlled, The AJC’s political insiders confirm, with no tickets available to the general public.

Warnock, who grew up in Savannah’s nearby Kayton Homes project, is expected to separate himself from other politicians in Washington D.C. The AJC predicts Walker will respond by tying his opponent to President Joe Biden and his 38% approval rating “early and often.”

“Raphael Warnock will have to answer why he has voted 96% of the time with (President) Joe Biden, giving us record-high inflation, all while doubling his own income,” Walker aide Will Kiley told Associated Press reporters Bill Barrow and Russ Bynum.

Additionally, The AP reports that the matchup could force both men to answer each other’s personal attacks that have “flooded voters’ television screens and social media feeds for months.”

Warnock’s campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, wrote in a memo that the debate will highlight Walker’s “pattern of lies, disturbing behavior, and positions” that “prove he is not ready to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.” The AP reports Fulks added, however, that Warnock “would highlight his nearly two years in the Senate as proof he ‘will work with anyone to help the people of our state.’”

Barrow and Bynum add, “Those previews track ground that Warnock, the 53-year-old pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and Walker, the 60-year-old former college and professional football star, have staked out in a midterm election that will help determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Biden’s term.” Read more from The AP here.

The latest AJC and University of Georgia poll released Wednesday morning shows a tight race between Warnock and Walker. The poll was reportedly taken before new abortion allegations surfaced against Walker.

The poll of more than a thousand respondents taken between Sept. 25 and Oct. 4 shows incumbent Warnock leading Walker in the race 46.4% to 43.4%, which is still within the poll’s 3.1% margin of error.

With Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver polling at 4.1% and 6.1% undecided, there is a real possibility of a runoff between Walker and Warnock in December.

>> Download 95.5 WSB’s Mobile App to follow news about the 2022 midterms on the go.

Experts say that the time period in which UGA conducted the polling is important in the race for U.S. Senate. Most of the polling happened before new allegations surfaced against Walker that he paid for the mother of one of his children to get an abortion, despite saying that he opposes abortion in all instances.

In the survey conducted, 61% of respondents said they do not support Georgia’s 2019 law that bans abortions after a heartbeat is detected.

Forty-seven percent said that protecting abortion rights would factor into their decision this election. Eighteen percent said abortion would not influence their vote and 29% said they would support candidates who would limit abortion access.

AJC-UGA POLL (1030 respondents between Sept. 25th-Oct. 4th)

U.S. Senate Race

  • Warnock (D): 46.4%
  • Walker (R): 43.4%
  • Oliver (L): 4.1%
  • Undecided: 6.1%
  • Margin of error: 3.1%

The Associated Press contributed to this article.


Nicole Bennett

Nicole Bennett

CMG Digital Content Producer

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