'Nearly broke' Georgia GOP begs Herschel Walker to donate $4.3M in unspent campaign money

28 May 2024

Former National Football League (NFL) star running back Herschel Walker is still sitting on more than $4 million from his failed run against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia). Both the Georgia Republican Party and former President Donald Trump's campaign are reportedly clamoring for it.

According to Politico, Walker has $4.3 million in his campaign account, which he can't use for personal expenses but can hold onto as a war chest for any federal office he chooses to run for in the future. Reporter Brittany Gibson noted that the Peach State GOP is "nearly broke" and desperate for the U.S. Senate candidate it nominated in 2022 to part with that money to help down-ballot candidates in 2024.

"I would give directly to candidates at the legislature level because to maintain the majorities in Georgia, we’re really having to fight here," Georgia Republican strategist Brian Robinson said.

After losing the U.S. Senate runoff election in December of 2022, Walker — who never previously ran for any elected office — has been effectively invisible. The former two-time Pro Bowl athlete decided to finish his undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia, where he played Division I football before entering the NFL draft. When contacted for comment, Walker told Politico that he was in the middle of writing a paper, but disputed that he had millions of unspent campaign funds.

"It wasn’t money left in my account. Everyone keeps saying that," Walker said.

The outlet reported that Walker transferred $100,000 of those funds to the National Republican Senatorial Committee's recount fund, and gave another $400,000 to various charities and nonprofits. However, the rest remains untouched, and Republicans are saying it should either be refunded to donors, donated to the Georgia GOP or given to one of former President Donald Trump's super PACs backing his 2024 candidacy.

"Republicans are being outspent everywhere up and down the ballot and there’s a significant sum of resources just sitting there,” an unnamed Georgia Republican strategist told Politico. “It could be supporting Trump, who did a ton for Herschel’s campaign.”

While Trump is struggling to fund a nationwide campaign infrastructure while simultaneously defending himself in four criminal proceedings, the Georgia Republican Party is also particularly hurting for funds. Politico reported that while the Peach State GOP had around $1.2 million in its coffers around this time in 2020, it has less than half of that amount now. And since 2021, it has spent roughly $2 million on legal expenses for various Republican officials ensnared in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' RICO indictment pertaining to alleged interference in the 2020 election.

Georgia House Republican candidates starved of funds they would normally expect from the state party apparatus could be what causes the House of Representatives to flip to Democratic control in 2025, given how small Republicans' majority has become under the leadership of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). Currently, he can only afford two defections on votes assuming full attendance. If Republicans in the Atlanta, Macon and Savannah suburbs don't win their respective elections, it could tilt House control in Democrats' favor.

Click here to read Politico's full report.

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