ATLANTA — Both Senator Raphael Warnock and his opponent Herschel Walker held campaign events just a few days before their first scheduled debate on Oct. 14. And neither one wasted any time reminding voters of their differences.
As Walker had help from national GOP members like Sen. Rick Scott, Warnock embraced support from local Atlanta leaders like Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman. With Scott pumping up the crowd with the promise that they’re looking at the next Georgia Senator, Abdur-Rahman reminded supporters the state “needs Warnock.”
Each candidate took the podium to tell voters about the two years. Walker, in Carrollton with a declaration that the time has brought “high inflation, crime, open borders, and unhappiness.”
Warnock, in Atlanta, took his time reminding supporters of the work he’s accomplished such as the inflation reduction act and working across the aisle.
“Creating some unlikely alliance, connecting with Ted Cruz to build out an interstate. Working with a senator from Alabama to help Georgia farmers get their products to market,” Warnock said.
Walker refused to take questions at his event, instead embracing a sizeable crowd of supporters. But Warnock briefly met with the press, where he challenged the upcoming closing of Atlanta Medical Center.
“I have spent time in that hospital visiting people in my congregation. I think about Laurie Davis, a trauma nurse who literally died, died because she didn’t have access to kind of healthcare she would have had. So, Georgia needs to expand Medicaid and I will do everything I can at the federal level to get us to do what we need to do. That's a real gut punch to the health system in that area and it’s because of politicians playing games,” he said.
Walker supporters believe it’s Warnock playing games and say their candidate is a welcomed change.
“That doesn’t make him perfect. He’s a man like you and I and all of us have a story,” said one woman as she passed a slew of cameras.
Neither Walker nor Warnock addressed a recent story surrounding allegations Walker paid for an abortion in 2009. But Warnock reminded his supporters of another difference in beliefs surrounding the issue.
“He (Walker) says he wants a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions. No exceptions, rape, incest, the life of the mother, I am a man of faith, I have a profound reverence for life, I have a deep respect for choice,” Warnock said.
The choice of course will come down to voters with Warnock encouraging supporters to take advantage of early voting. A Survey USA 11Alive poll shows the incumbent with a double-digit lead but it’s not a concern for Walker or Senator Scott.
“He’s worked hard every day. He believes in this country. That's why people are going to vote for him,” Scott said.
Warnock isn't paying much attention to the numbers either, saying with a little less than a month from election night, the polls will undoubtedly go up and down. But before the vote comes there's the upcoming debate, which Warnock welcomes as a chance to further highlight how opposite the opponents are.
“I’m glad we’re finally having a debate," Warnock said with a slight smile. "It took some encouraging and nudging. At the end of the day, I think Georgians will see there is a clear choice. What’s not close is the differences between me and my opponent.”