Herschel Walker reports $5.4M raised for Georgia Senate race

Herschel Walker's campaign says the former football star raised $5.4 million for his U.S. Senate race in the last quarter of 2021

Election 2022-Senate-Georgia (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Herschel Walker raised $5.4 million for his U.S. Senate race in the last quarter of 2021, the former football star's campaign said Wednesday.

Walker is seeking the Republican nomination in Georgia to challenge Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock an Atlanta pastor whose victory in a runoff election a year ago made him the state's first Black senator.

Though a political newcomer, Walker is among Georgia's best-known sports heroes for his football career at the University of Georgia and in the NFL. He's a Black conservative who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump a longtime friend, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Walker's campaign said in a statement that more than 44,000 people in all 50 states donated to Walker's campaign from October through December. It said he has raised nearly $10 million total since entering the race in August.

Further details won't be available until Walker files his quarterly fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission. The deadline for Senate candidates is Monday.

Warnock, pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, has to defend his Senate seat this fall after winning a special election in 2020 to fill the unexpired term of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson who stepped down because of failing health. Isakson died in December.

Warnock raised more than $125 million for his 2020 Senate race, according to FEC reports. In the 2022 campaign cycle, he had raised $44 million as of Sept. 30, and reported $17 million cash on hand.

In the GOP primary for the Senate seat, Walker faces at least three other Republicans who have declared candidacies. Gary Black serves as Georgia's agriculture commissioner, Latham Saddler is a Navy veteran and former bank executive, and Kelvin King owns a construction company.

Black has publicly questioned Walker's fitness to serve in the Senate, citing his rival's turbulent personal history. Walker has a lengthy history of mental health struggles, much of which he detailed in his autobiography. An investigation by The Associated Press in July revealed accusations that Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife’s life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior.

A Walker campaign spokeswoman, Mallory Blount, dismissed Black's criticism as a desperate move by a struggling candidate.