Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker headed for a runoff

Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed after Sen. Johnny Isakson stepped down due to health problems in 2019. Warnock had led the 21-person “jungle” (multi-party) special election, but only captured 32% of the vote, so he and Loeffler, the second-highest vote-getter, went into a January runoff. Warnock ultimately prevailed, becoming the first Black senator from Georgia.

The January runoff election was held on Jan. 5, 2021, one day before former President Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Just a few days ahead of the runoff, on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to “find” more than 11,000 votes to put him over the top in the state. 

Now Warnock faces Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner who was a running back for University of Georgia. Walker is the rare Republican who in the primaries had the support of not only of Trump, but also Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

Democrats have been invested heavily in the race, and former President Barack Obama traveled to Georgia in the final sprint, calling Walker “a celebrity that wants to be a politician.”

Walker announced his run for the Georgia Senate race August 2021, saying he  “can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.” This is his first candidacy, and he frequently invokes his Washington outsider status on the campaign trail.

His campaign was rocked last month by a Daily Beast report that in 2009, Walker, who has vocally opposed abortion rights, allegedly paid for an abortion for a woman he’d been seeing. CBS News has not independently confirmed this payment. The Daily Beast said the unidentified woman supported her claim with a $575 receipt from an abortion clinic and a signed $700 personal check from Walker to cover expenses. She told The Daily Beast she came forward because of Walker’s stance on abortion, saying “I just cant with the hypocrisy anymore. We all deserve better.”

On Oct. 5, The Daily Beast reported that she also said she later gave birth to a child by Walker. He also denied that report. The woman told The New York Times that when she became pregnant again two years later, Walker again asked her to end the pregnancy. This time, she refused, she and Walker ended their relationship, and she gave birth to a son, who is now 10 years old. 

“He has to be held responsible, just like the rest of us. And if you’re going to run for office, you need to own your life,” the woman told The Times. 

In late October, another woman came forward, claiming that Walker had paid for her to have an abortion in the early 1990s. Walker also denies this accusation. The woman, known as Jane Doe to conceal her identity, said Walker drove her to an abortion clinic in the spring of 1993 after he learned she was pregnant.