Trump-backed Walker leans on sports career in pursuing U.S. Senate run
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[August 26, 2021]
By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Retired football star
Herschel Walker on Wednesday launched a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat
from Georgia that leaned heavily on his personal rise from poverty to
sporting greatness, as well as his support from former President Donald
Trump.
Walker, who has never before run for elective office, will seek the
Republican nomination to take on first-term Democratic Senator Raphael
Warnock next year. The contest could play a critical role in determining
whether President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats retain their razor-thin
Senate majority.
His newly unveiled campaign website featured a video that highlighted
his sports achievements but included little on policy views other than
saying, "I believe in smaller government, a strong military, personal
responsibility and making sure all people have an opportunity to pursue
their dreams." He formally filed paperwork to run on Tuesday.
The website also included a photo of Walker on a stage with Trump, who
in recent months has urged him to run. Walker in the 1980s played for a
professional football team owned by Trump.
Walker in December backed Trump's false claims of widespread election
fraud and urged Georgia's election officials to avoid certifying Biden's
victory in the state.
Walker, 59, on Wednesday released a statement to local media saying that
his personal successes - growing from "a poor kid" to be a business
owner and winner of the 1982 Heisman Trophy while at the University of
Georgia signifying the nation's outstanding collegiate football player -
were examples of an upward mobility in America that he said was slipping
away.
Trump's backing may deter other Republicans from seeking the nomination,
but observers said Walker could face an uphill battle against Warnock in
the November 2022 general election.
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President Donald Trump listens to former NFL star Herschel Walker
speak during the White House Sports and Fitness Day event on the
South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 30, 2018.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
"I'm not sure he's going to be the Republicans' best
candidate to win in November," said University of Georgia political
scientist Charles Bullock. "If he is just a football hero from 40
years ago, for some part of the electorate that could work well but
swing voters may not necessarily think that makes you a good
senator."
Walker did not respond to requests for comment.
Democrats cheered his entry in the race, with a major fundraising
group for the party, the American Bridge 21st Century political
committee, on Tuesday predicting a "full-bore nasty primary" after
another Republican in the Senate race released a video taunting
Walker.
Trump, who has yet to formally endorse Walker, has thrown his
support to more than a dozen congressional candidates, including
several challenging Republican incumbents who joined Democrats in an
impeachment vote on a charge that Trump incited insurrection in the
Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot by his supporters.
The former president has a mixed track record of late in
endorsements. A coal lobbyist backed by Trump this month won a
crowded primary in an Ohio contest for a U.S. House of
Representatives seat, a week after his preferred candidate for a
Texas seat in the House lost to another Republican.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham)
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