ATLANTA — A post on social media claims Hershel Walker, the Republican nominee in Georgia's U.S. Senate race, is no longer running ads on television because the campaign is out of money.
Conservative radio host and blogger Erick Erickson posted a screen grab appearing to be from Walker's campaign, saying it's not running ads in the state and is asking for donations.
THE QUESTION
Has Hershel Walker stopped running TV ads on the air in Georgia?
THE SOURCES
- 11Alive sales data
- Dr. Andre Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University
- The Federal Election Commission
THE ANSWER
Yes, according to 11Alive sales information, Walker is not running TV ads on our station right now.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to federally filed campaign finance reports, U.S. Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock has significantly raised more money than his opponent, Republican nominee Hershel Walker.
“Senator Warnock had raised about $84, $85 million and as of June 30th, he had about $22 million left on hand. Herschel Walker had raised $28 million and had about $7 million left on hand," Dr. Andre Gillespie said.
Dr. Andre Gillespie said there's no guarantee whoever raises the most money will win a race.
“The fact that Warnock raised a lot of money early, I think is a marker of how seriously he was taking this race and the realization that any race, even with a Democratic incumbent candidate in the state, was going to be competitive," Gillespie said.
While Walker still had money in the bank as of his last filing report six weeks ago, his campaign spending is changing.
"In any other fundraising year, the amount of money that Herschel Walker has raised would actually be pretty close to the median," Gillespie said. "It's just that this is a very special contest and a really highly charged year."
Gillespie believes Warnock not having many challengers in the primary election, unlike Walker, has helped to put him in a better financial situation.
"Raphael Warnock has had extra time because he's known that he was going to have to run for this office as soon as he won his last election in 2021, so he's had more advanced notice and has had more time to be able to raise money," Gillespie said.
According to 11Alive sales information, Walker last ran a campaign ad the night of Aug. 17, and he didn't run any ads on our station on the 18th or 19th.
Walker's campaign did not return numerous interview requests from 11Alive News.