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Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock raised $52.2 million for his re-election between Oct. 20 through Nov. 16, more than doubling the fundraising total of his opponent, Republican Herschel Walker. Warnock, the top fundraising federal candidate of the 2022 election cycle by a long-shot, spent $39.2 million over the same period, which almost doubled Walker's spend too. Walker still raised a significant amount over that fundraising period — $20.9 million. His campaign spent $16.5 million and closed with $9.8 million on hand. If you’re just getting read back in after the holiday week, here are a few other headlines you may have missed ahead of next week’s runoff:

☆ A razor-thin Senate buffer and 2024 chances are at stake in Georgia's runoff next week between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Early voting has started for the Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. A Warnock victory would usher in a 51-49 Democratic majority, while the GOP hopes for a 50-50 split. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker speaks with supporters during a campaign rally in Milton, Ga., on November 21, 2022. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — who caucus with the Democratic Party, creating an equal split in the upper chamber. However, some Republicans would prefer that Trump remain at Mar-a-Lago, worried that he could cost them another Senate win.

☆ Asian American voters are flexing their political muscle in the Georgia Senate runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Both the Warnock and Walker campaigns have courted this crucial bloc ahead of the Senate runoff. Ballots cast by Asian American voters rose dramatically from 2016 to 2020, from 73,000 votes to 134,000 votes, respectively, according to the Democratic polling data firm TargetSmart. Per CNN exit polling from the November general election, Warnock won Asian American voters by 20 points over Walker (59%-39%). Brian Kemp cultivated relationships with Asian American voters during his successful campaign. "We're the only demographic group that keeps going up," Georgia state Sen.-elect Nabilah Islam told Politico.

☆ Republicans want Brian Kemp's mojo to rub off on Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, but hurdles remain as the governor uses his political operation to boost the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Brian Kemp has emerged as Herschel Walker's most powerful surrogate in the Georgia Senate runoff. Kemp, who won reelection as governor, didn't campaign with Walker during the general election race. This normally wouldn't be a notable act in GOP politics, but the Georgia Senate runoff election is not a normal contest. For that reason, Walker has found himself openly embracing Kemp, who came out of the general election as the biggest winner in Georgia politics. On November 7, Kemp flew around Georgia with most of the statewide GOP candidates — including Raffensperger — but Walker wasn't part of the mix.

☆ Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has big campaign cash advantage over GOP's Herschel Walker going into runoff election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock's campaign has almost three times as much cash on hand as Republican candidate Herschel Walker's heading into the final stretch of Georgia's runoff Senate election, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. Warnock, who is trying to defend his seat in a tight race, had just over $29 million on hand as of Nov. 16. Walker, a former NFL player and favorite of ex-President Donald Trump, had over $9.8 million on hand heading into the final weeks of the election. Warnock's campaign raised $52 million during that time period, compared with Walker's nearly $21 million, records show. In the midterms, Democrats flipped Pennsylvania's GOP-held Senate seat and defended contested seats in Arizona and Nevada.

☆ Fact Check-Election graphs published by Mike Lindell do not indicate U.S. voter fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

A series of graphs published by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell on his social media channels and livestreams appearing to show real-time U.S. midterm election updates do not indicate or prove fraud, experts told Reuters. Lindell published four graphs on his Instagram account purporting to show real-time vote counts during the elections. But such ‘spikes’ seen in graphs using unofficial election data do not indicate or provide proof of fraud, with races rarely officially called on election night (here). The four graphs appearing to show real-time midterm election data do not point to fraud or nefarious activity. Visualizing unofficial vote counts in real-time where the incoming data may be non-uniform in distribution can lead to apparent “spikes” in graphs, experts told Reuters.

☆ Herschel Walker calls the election an 'erection' during Fox News snafu
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Herschel Walker on Tuesday appeared to slip up and mispronounce the word "election" on TV. "This erection is about the people," Walker said, presumably meaning to say "election" instead. "This election is about more than Herschel Walker. This erection is about the people," Walker said during a Tuesday appearance on Fox News. Walker presumably meant to say "election," but messed up his pronunciation of the word while the two senators nodded and looked on.

☆ Georgia Supreme Court allows early voting in U.S. Senate runoff on Saturday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The Georgia Supreme Court allowed counties to hold early voting this Saturday in the U.S. Senate runoff election between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, denying a bid by state Republicans to block the early voting. For the second time in less than two years, a U.S. Senate race in Georgia will go to a runoff, this time between Warnock and Walker, who is backed by former President Donald Trump. A Walker win would give national Republicans a boost, having seen their standing in the state of Georgia erode toward Democrats over the last few years. A Warnock victory could indicate that Democrats are making inroads in places where they have had difficulties gaining traction in the past. Democrats held the narrowest possible majority for the past two years in the 50-50 Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris gave them the tie-breaking vote.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the state Republican Party's bid to block early voting in the state's hotly contested Senate runoff from moving forward this Saturday. Early voting is required to be available statewide Monday through Friday of next week. The state Republican Party appealed the decision, arguing it was allowing “illegal advance voting.”The dispute centered on a provision of Senate Bill 202, signed by Republican Gov. Raffensperger contended that meant there could be no early in-person voting on Nov. 26, the Saturday following Thanksgiving. In a court filing, Democrats said at least 19 counties with a total of over 4 million residents were planning on offering early voting on Saturday.

CNN —Republican Herschel Walker is getting a tax break intended only for a primary residence this year on his home in the Dallas, Texas, area, despite running for Senate in Georgia. Walker registered to vote in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2021 after living in Texas for two decades and voting infrequently. 11Alive News, a local Georgia station, first reported that Walker took the homestead exemption on his Texas home in 2020. The county tax office in Texas where Walker maintains his home confirmed the exemption. Homeowners in many states are able to apply for a tax exemption by declaring their home to be their primary residence and the exemption lowers their tax bill by removing part of their home’s value on paper.

☆ Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker set to receive 2022 tax exemption on Texas home meant for a 'principal residence': report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walker is set to receive a tax break for his Texas home meant for a "primary residence," per CNN. The Georgia Republican is expected to save $1,500 from the homestead tax exemption in Texas. Walker is locked in a tight runoff contest with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia. In 2021, Walker registered to vote in Georgia after living in Texas for about 20 years. Texas homeowner guidelines stipulate that individuals can qualify for the exemption if it's used for their "principal residence."

The runoff race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican nominee Herschel Walker remains tight in Georgia, an AARP poll finds. Fifty-one percent of all likely voters have a favorable view of Warnock, while 45% of likely voters in the same age group view Walker favorably. Forty-five percent of likely voters have an unfavorable view of Warnock, while 49% view Walker unfavorably. Walker's favorability rating is only above 50% among Republicans, men over age 50, voters over age 65, white voters and voters without a college degree. Meanwhile, Warnock's favorability rating is above 50% among all likely voters, voters under age 50, Democrats, independents, women, Black voters and voters with a college degree.

☆ Woman challenges Republican Herschel Walker to face abortion claim in public
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - A woman who alleges that U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion in 1993 on Tuesday challenged the Republican, who has said he opposes abortion with no exceptions, to meet her publicly before next month's Georgia run-off election. Walker has called the woman's allegations, first made publicly on Oct. 26, untrue. The woman and her attorney presented voice recordings they claimed to be Walker's. The attorney has said the woman has years of material, including receipts and greeting cards, documenting her romantic relationship with Walker from the late 1980s through the 1990s. A Warnock victory would expand Democrats' razor-thin margin in the Senate by one, giving President Joe Biden's party more room to maneuver.

☆ A 2nd woman who said Herschel Walker forced her to have an abortion said he has caused 'collateral damage' with his denial of their relationship: 'All I can do is tell the truth'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A second woman who said Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion spoke out on Tuesday. Walker, the Georgia Republican Senate nominee, earlier this month called the allegations a "lie." I never paid for an abortion,'" Doe said. In an early October Daily Beast report, Walker was accused of paying for the abortion of an unnamed former girlfriend. In a separate The New York Times report, the same woman said that Walker pressured her to have a second abortion, but she declined.

☆ Fewer states than ever could pick the next president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Five states decided the last presidential race by flipping from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have each carried 20 states in every election since at least 2008. Democrats did not demonstrate the capacity to threaten any of the GOP’s core 20 states, as Republicans did in Nevada. A race with just Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona as true battlegrounds would begin with Democrats favored in states holding 260 Electoral College votes (including Washington, DC) and Republicans in states with 235. After 2022, the list of genuinely competitive presidential states may be shrinking, but, if anything, that could increase the tension as the nation remains poised on the knife’s edge between two deeply entrenched, but increasingly antithetical, political coalitions.

Former President Barack Obama is heading to Georgia next week to rally supporters for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock ahead of the state's Senate runoff on Dec. 6. Obama will campaign with Warnock on Dec. 1, and encourage Georgians' to cast early ballots, per the former president's team. Obama's office noted that after his Oct. 28 rally for Warnock, attendees “signed up to complete hundreds of door knocking shifts.”Early voting for the Senate runoff between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker begins on Nov. 28 and runs through Dec. 2. The state's new voting law reduced the early voting period.

☆ Factbox: What's at stake in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But he may have less opportunity for flashy moves, as Republicans will hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. SENATE COMMITTEESBecause of the 50-50 Senate divide, committee memberships are currently doled out evenly. Tied votes in committees on legislation or presidential nominations block, at least temporarily, such measures from advancing to the full Senate. A Walker win would give national Republicans a boost, having seen their standing in the state of Georgia erode toward Democrats over the last few years. A Warnock victory could indicate that Democrats are making inroads in places where they have had difficulties gaining traction in the past.

☆ Trump is reportedly furious that top Republicans are trying to persuade him not to campaign in the Georgia Senate runoff: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump furious Republicans are trying to dissuade him from campaigning in Georgia runoff, per Rolling Stone. Trump's status in the GOP has taken a big hit after the midterm elections. Republican Herschel Walker faces Democrat Raphael Warnock in the Senate runoff in December. Trump endorsed hundreds of candidates in the midterm elections, in a bid to cement his hold over the Republican Party before announcing his 2024 bid. Trump's relentless promotion of election fraud conspiracy theories in 2020 was blamed by some for the Republican Party's two Georgia Senate runoff defeats last year.

☆ Factbox: What is at stake in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As Election Day neared, Georgia election officials reported heavy turnout in early voting. But he may have less opportunity for flashy moves, with Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. SENATE COMMITTEESBecause of the 50-50 Senate divide, committee memberships are currently doled out evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Tied votes in committees block legislation and presidential appointments, at least temporarily, from advancing to the full Senate. One-third of Senate seats are up for election every two years.

☆ After winning the Senate, Democrats' campaign chief warns GOP: Trump will continue to drag you down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — Days after denying Republicans the Senate majority they fought for in the midterm elections, the Democrats' campaign chief warned the GOP: If former President Donald Trump continues to be your leader, voters will continue to punish you. “There’s no question that Donald Trump is a motivating factor for turnout when it comes to Democratic voters,” Sen. Gary Peters, of Michigan, said in an interview at Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters. If the party continues to be following the Trump model and is Trumpian and doesn’t go back to their more conservative roots of the traditional Republican Party, I will say, definitely that’ll be a problem,” he said. The GOP's failure to recapture the Senate has led to recriminations and a dispute about whether Trump was to blame for their underperformance. Warnock, sensing an opportunity to mobilize his party’s base, cut that video into a campaign ad and displayed “Stop Donald Trump.

☆ Pence says he was 'surprised' that Republicans didn't win more seats in the midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mike Pence said he was "surprised" that Republicans didn't win more seats in the 2022 midterms. While on the CBS program "Face the Nation," Pence said citizens want the GOP to focus on the future. During an interview on the CBS program "Face the Nation," Pence told host Margaret Brennan that while he wanted to see larger Republican margins in Congress, a "win is a win." "A win is a win, but I would have liked to see more Republicans elected to Congress. I would have liked to have seen a Republican majority in the Senate."

Here are several of the ways the new law could affect voters in the runoff. Plus, due to an ongoing lawsuit against the state, it remains uncertain whether one Saturday early voting day, on Nov. 26, will be allowed. This year, that would mean there would be no early in-person voting on Nov. 26, the Saturday following Thanksgiving. But under Georgia law, runoff voting may not begin until after officials have certified the general election vote, which will be on Monday, Nov. 21, per the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. "But now because of SB 202, you can only do that during the hours of early voting, which can often be a regular 9-to-5."

☆ Georgia Judge Allows Saturday Voting in U.S. Senate Runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Laura Kusisto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Georgia judge ruled Friday that county elections officials can offer voting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving in the runoff election for a U.S. Senate seat, a victory for Democrats who had challenged the state’s guidance that disallowed it. The lawsuit filed by the state’s Democratic Party and Sen. Raphael Warnock ’s re-election campaign centered on a provision of state law that says counties can provide voting on certain Saturdays in primaries and general elections, but makes an exception if that Saturday follows a statutory holiday. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had issued guidance saying that meant counties shouldn’t offer voting on the Saturday following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Raffensperger, a Republican, had maintained that changes to Georgia voting laws meant that there could be no early voting on Nov. 26, the only Saturday when it would have been possible for Georgians to cast an early vote in the hotly contested race. Brian Kemp in March 2021, which stipulates early in-person voting must end the Friday before the runoff. The law also stipulates early in-person voting not be held on any Saturday that follows a “public or legal holiday” on the preceding Thursday or Friday. Raffensperger contended that meant there would be no early in-person voting on Nov. 26, the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Voting rights groups have pushed counties in Georgia to open up early in-person voting on Nov. 22, 23 and 27.

☆ Republican Senate Spat Spills Over Into Georgia Runoff Race
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has fended off a challenge to his leadership in the GOP in the Senate. Allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) continue to trade blame for the party’s failure to capture the Senate majority in the midterms elections, with the conflict now spilling over into Republicans’ Georgia runoff effort. Mr. McConnell on Wednesday defeated a long-shot bid by Mr. Scott to replace him as the Senate’s top Republican, but the fallout is lingering as the party prepares for the Dec. 6 runoff between ex-football star Herschel Walker and incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock . The Senate now stands at 50-49; the Democrats will keep the majority regardless of the runoff results because Vice President Kamala Harris has a tiebreaking vote.

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