Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) continues to out-raise and out-spend Republican Herschel Walker in the race for Senate, having $29.7 million cash on hand against Walker’s $9.8 million by a November 16 report.
Outside spending is also playing a big role: Open Secrets reports about $60 million in spending for both candidates in the runoff alone, and on Wednesday, pro-Warnock group Georgia Honor announced a $5.83 million ad buy featuring an attack ad aimed at Walker, according to NBC. The same day, another pro-Warnock group Majority Forward announced $11 million in spending on a massive door-knocking operation ahead of the December 6 vote, according to The Washington Post.
Earlier in November, the Senate Leadership Fund, a pro-Walker PAC, announced $14.2 million in ad spending and a $2 million turnout operation. But Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Warnock and allies are outspending Walker on advertising, $37.5 million to $20.9 million, according to AdImpact.
“I’m nervous because it feels like the Dems are actually increasing their ad buys, and it feels like we’re probably decreasing,” state senator-elect Shawn Still told The Star on Monday. “But as I think that we’ve proven over and over again, you know, TV buys don’t necessarily translate to votes, and if that’s where Warnock’s team wants to spend all their time, money and resources, so be it.”
Still, who supports Walker, said Warnock’s campaign is offering high wages to door-knockers, while people from Still’s own campaign are volunteering for Walker.
“We’ve got people lining up out the door want to do it, just to do it, just out of the passion for the race,” he said. “That speaks volumes to me, that Warnock is advertising $40 an hour for door knockers, that that’s how much people don’t want to door knock for him.”
The race is drawing record numbers of early voters, with 833,738 early votes by Wednesday morning.
“Tuesday’s one day total of 300,588 is higher than Early Voting in any other previous election year, other than Monday’s total of 303,166. As of Wednesday morning, 770,745 voters have cast their in-person vote in the 2022 Runoff,” the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said in a press release.
“Georgia is a national leader in voter access and security,” Raffensperger said. “We are having historic levels of turnout and those who want to vote are voting- we believe this level of voter participation is excellent, and we’ll keep working with counties to encourage them to open more Early Voting locations in the future.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Raphael Warnock” by Raphael Warnock.
