Voters in Georgia are focused on deciding between two Senate candidates facing a slurry of accusations ranging from domestic abuse to crushing the poor, lying about business, and celebrating dictators.
But voters suggest they have other priorities.
It seems that, in a duel between two charismatic leaders with party control of the Senate at stake, voters want a senator with their preferred policies and values.
The scandals alleged against Republican senate candidate Herschel Walker and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) smell of hypocrisy. Scandals sometimes play a role in ending a politician’s career or lowering turnout, but in this race, it doesn’t seem to matter.
Scandals on All Sides
Walker, who ran on a pro-life platform, has been accused by a former girlfriend of paying for an abortion, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. The girlfriend offered receipts to back up her claim.
Another former girlfriend also claims that Walker got her an abortion and confirmed her story with signed cards and hotel receipts from the time, according to further reporting by The Daily Beast.
At a press conference, Walker issued a statement that these accusations were lies while speaking on how he would stand up for family values.
Meanwhile, Warnock has emphasized his concern for the poor.
“Unemployment benefits have expired, rent is due today, and many Georgia families are at risk of eviction in the middle of a pandemic,” he said in a Twitter post.
But his church stands accused of evicting disadvantaged apartment residents from a building it owned for failing to pay as little as $28.55 in rent, according to reporting by the Washington Free Beacon.
Warnock draws a $7,417 monthly rent allowance from the same church where he serves as a senior pastor.
Warnock didn’t return comment on the Free Beacon’s report.
Both candidates have emphasized their Christian faith, but their ex-wives of both men have accused them of domestic abuse.
Images of Innocence
Some Americans believe the public images both Walker and Warnock have built hold more sway than the scandals now written about them. Even those who believe their candidates are guilty of the allegations tend to minimize that guilt.“As I heard [Walker] speak, and the sincerity with which he denied it, and the conviction with which he denied it, I came to believe that he probably was telling the truth,” said Scott Black, a South Carolina resident who drove to Georgia to support a Walker event.
“I don’t think about it too much,” said Walker-voter Mark, who declined to give his last name. “We’re all sinners, and it’s a combination of lies, mischaracterizations, and old news.”
Black added that even if he did believe Walker was guilty, he’d still think Warnock’s policies are worse for the country.
“Even if everything they said about him was true, I still believe Raphael Warnock would be by far the greater evil between the two,” he said.
Among Warnock supporters, the scandals reported also have had little impact.
“Reporters can dig up anything, they can twist everything,” said Warnock-voter Birgitte Houen-Tolstrup. “He is a good human being.”
“Everyone has things that you will disagree with. Everyone has things that they may not be proud of and things that may or may not be true,” said a woman voting for Warnock who chose not to give her name.
“You have to go with the candidate who best flies with the most important values that you have, scandal or without scandal,” she added.
And in person, it’s hard to associate the two men with their scandals. Walker and Warnock speak with conviction and charisma onstage and seem unembarrassed by the accusations.
At the same time, they’re quick to believe accusations against each other.
“This is a man who lies about the most basic facts of his life,” Warnock said of Walker during their debate. “And now he wants the rest of us ... to somehow imagine now that he’s a United States senator.”
Walker fired back by calling Warnock a liar.
