Georgia's Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) said last week that the embattled Senate candidate Herschel Walker "has not yet earned my vote," per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Driving the news: "Walker won his Senate primary not because of his political chops or policy proposals," Duncan wrote in an editorial published on CNN last week.
- "He trounced his opponents because of his performance on the football field 40 years ago and his friendship with former President Donald Trump — neither of which are guaranteed tickets to victory anymore," he wrote.
- “I’m not voting for Sen. Warnock, and like a lot of other Georgians, Herschel Walker has not yet earned my vote,” Duncan told the AJC.
- “He’s got four weeks left to change our minds," he added.
The big picture: Duncan, who was outspoken in denouncing and debunking the false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election, is the most prominent Georgia Republican critic of Walker, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes.
- Trump and other influential Republicans have supported Walker after a report alleged the Georgia candidate paid for a girlfriend's abortion in 2009.
State of play: Other Republican lawmakers in the state have been less outspoken, including Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who has largely avoided defending Walker.
- “I can’t control what other people are doing. I certainly can’t control the past. But I can control my own destiny and that’s what we’re doing," Kemp has said, the New York Times reports.
- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has used the controversy surrounding Walker to denounce her competitor, Kemp, per the AJC.
- “He is always taking positions that are designed to undermine personal freedoms," Abrams said, per the AJC.
- "And you cannot say that you believe that Herschel Walker is entitled to his personal choices, but no one else in Georgia is."
Go deeper... GOP congressman defends Herschel Walker: "We all make mistakes"
