Herschel Walker Defeat Is Worst by Georgia GOP Senate Candidate in 22 Years

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Tuesday night's Georgia Senate runoff is shaping up to be the largest defeat margin a Republican senatorial candidate has suffered in the southeastern state since Mack Mattingly's loss in 2000.

With more than 95 percent of the votes counted, Democratic incumbent senator Raphael Warnock's lead over Trump-endorsed rival Herschel Walker is up to 2.8 points. Warnock, already declared winner, received 51.4 percent of the vote against Walker's 48.6 percent.

Herschel Walker, Georgia Senate race runoff
Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker and his wife, Julie Blanchard, leave after he delivered his concession speech during an election-night event at the College Football Hall of Fame on December 6, 2022 in Atlanta,... Alex Wong/Getty Images

This was the second runoff in just as many years that a Republican candidate lost to Warnock, and since then, the defeat margin of Republican candidates has only increased.

After Warnock and Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler failed to overcome the threshold of 50 percent of the vote required to win outright in Georgia in November 2020, the two rivals went to a runoff on January 5, 2021. The Democrat defeated Loeffler with a 2.0 points lead. The Republican defeat margin has grown by 0.6 points with Walker in 2022.

The GOP suffered a bigger defeat 22 years ago, when, on November 7, 2000, Democrat incumbent Zell Miller overwhelmingly won re-election with a 20.3 points lead over Republican rival Mattingly.

This was also the last time that a Republican candidate lost the Senate race in Georgia until January 2021, when Loeffler lost to Warnock in the special election and Republican incumbent David Perdue was defeated by Democrat Jon Ossoff in the runoff of the regular election. The victory margin was 1.2 points.

Warnock's victory in Tuesday night's runoff, which had come to be widely expected by both Republicans and Democrats in the past few days, shows that, once again, the Democratic Party has managed to turn the state's runoffs—which have traditionally rewarded Republican candidates—in its favor.

Walker's defeat has delivered the last blow to Republicans after an underwhelming midterm elections that witnessed the bust of the widely expected "red wave" the GOP was counting on. It also offered another example of Trump-endorsed candidates underperforming at the ballot.

Walker's campaign was marred by scandals and controversy, as former partners came forward to reveal that the anti-abortion candidate had paid for them to have the procedure. The Republican also made several incendiary and confusing remarks.

Walker conceded the race on Tuesday night, with a speech urging his supporters to "stay together" without blaming anyone on his defeat, "because I want you to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials."

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more