Early voting in Georgia Senate runoff between Warnock and Walker breaks records

Judy Woodruff:

Georgia's run-off election for a U.S. Senate seat has broken records for the most people voting early on a single day. In total, more than one million people have already cast their ballots in the race that was triggered after neither the incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger Herschel Walker received the required 50 percent of the vote to win outright last month.

Joining me now from Atlanta is our Laura Barrón-López , who has been on the campaign trail with both candidates today.

So, hello, Laura.

The election is next Tuesday. Former President Obama is there, his second visit. He was there last month for Senator Warnock. Tell us what you're seeing and hearing.

Laura Barrón-López :

That's right, Judy.

I'm here at the historic Pullman Yards in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta. And the president, former President Obama, is going to be joining Senator Warnock here. And he's really trying to make this final push ahead of the final day of early voting, which is Friday, and then also ahead of, as you said, that December 6 run-off.

The — when I was speaking to voters on their way in here, the line was snaking around this old rail yard. And voters were saying that they were really motivated to encourage others around them, Democratic voters, to vote for Warnock, and saying that they really wanted to see him continue in the Senate, and that they felt as though it was just as important as the general election.

So, right now, it's not really looking as though enthusiasm is dropping off at all among Democrats.

Judy Woodruff:

Really interesting.

And, as we just reported, historic turnout so far in the early voting, even though the balance of power in the Senate is not on the line. How is that thought to be affecting the race overall?

Laura Barrón-López :

So, an number of Democrats here in Georgia think that the fact that Democrats have retained, maintained control of the Senate actually gives them an edge heading into this run-off, because they are thinking that it could potentially dampen Republican turnout.

Now, Herschel Walker is trying to really win over those Brian Kemp voters — that's the Republican governor here in Georgia — the voters that didn't vote for him in the general election. There were some 200,000 that voted for Governor Kemp who did not vote for Herschel Walker. And there were a number of split-ticket voters.

And so Walker is trying to really win over a lot of those moderate independents, people that voted for Kemp, maybe voted for Warnock as well in the general. But it remains to be seen if he's going to be able to close that gap, as Democrats have really changed the ground game here, Judy, since 2018.

And I was talking to former election official, a Republican, who was saying that Democrats have improved their organizing around the early vote, around absentee voting, and that it's really put Republicans on their back foot as they try to close that gap.

Judy Woodruff:

And, Laura, you mentioned Herschel Walker a moment ago, the Republican candidate.

You were with him on the campaign trail earlier today. Tell us how he's spending these final days of the campaign.

Laura Barrón-López :

Herschel Walker is on a bus tour as he makes his rounds throughout the state.

I was with him at his shop in Columbus, Georgia, a little south of Atlanta. And he was really just trying to rally his most loyal supporters there. The voters there had voted for Walker in the general election. They weren't voters who were coming over to him or switching at all.

And they said that they were supporting him because they wanted someone who would vote against President Biden's agenda in the Senate. And walk her speech was really just a red meat speech. In it, Walker said that he — he would be a check against Biden. He also equated voting for Democrats to do actually voting — heading towards hell vs. heaven.

There were a lot of biblical verses that Walker doled out. He also made his speech very much about gender identity and culture wars. So, there wasn't really much in his speech that could potentially win over some of those independents that he says he's trying to in the final stretch.

Judy Woodruff:

Really, really interesting. It's all heating up there in Georgia as they head toward this Tuesday, big Tuesday run-off.

Laura Barrón-López , reporting for us from Atlanta, thank you, Laura.

Laura Barrón-López :

Thanks, Judy.