Former University of Georgia football standout and pro-football running back Herschel Walker easily won the Republican Senate primary in the Peach State on Tuesday, lining him up to take on incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock in November.
Walker defeated six other GOP candidates, including state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black. The AP called the race an hour after polls closed.
Walker had 70.4% of the vote with 16% of precincts reporting.
Walker, who won the 1982 Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in America and helped the Bulldogs to the national championship as a freshman in 1980, was the heavy favorite to win the primary after securing endorsements from both former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Trump called in to Walker’s afterparty to rally the candidate and his supporters with a ringing congratulatory speech.
Manu Raju on X (formerly Twitter): “Trump calls into the Herschel Walker victory party pic.twitter.com/8oWclHCkUc / X”
Trump calls into the Herschel Walker victory party pic.twitter.com/8oWclHCkUc
“You were the greatest football player, you’ll be an even greater politician and senator. I know now, I knew right from the beginning when I first spoke to you, that this man is going to do things that are incredible. So congratulations not only for the night but for the great numbers, and you’re going to go on to a tremendous victory for a long time,” Trump said.
“What a long distance you’ve come, right? What a long distance. And I’m only going to be more proud of you after November,” he added.
“There’s nobody like this man. He’s a winner and he’s a champion, and we all love him. And congratulations to everybody in that room.”
