by Tim Darnell | Oct 20, 2021 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — One day after a Republican U.S. Senate rival launched a statewide radio ad campaign, University of Georgia football legend Herschel Walker released a digital ad focusing on his Wrightsville hometown roots.
The ad features Don Norton, head football coach and athletic director at Johnson County High School.
“People always talk about what a great player he was,” Norton says in the ad. “To me and to our kids here at Johnson County High School, he’s more of a role model and a fantastic human being. He treats everybody as if they are more important than he is.
“He is a small-town guy who lifts people up instead of bringing them down. … I think Herschel Walker would make a great leader. He’s humble. He’s honest. He’s sincere, and he’s always stood for the right things.”
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On Tuesday, one of Walker’s three GOP rivals, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, began running a radio ad statewide highlighting his recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. In the ad, Black criticized Walker – who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump – for what Black’s campaign called Walker’s pro-amnesty, pro-citizenship position on illegal immigration.
Walker’s campaign responded by declaring Walker backs Trump’s position on the importance of securing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Last week, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock – the Democrat Walker, Black, Kelvin King and Latham Saddler want to unseat — reported his campaign raised more than $9.5 million during third quarter of this year in a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Earlier this month, Walker reported raising $3.7 million during the first five weeks of his campaign. Contributions came from nearly 50,000 donors from all 50 states.
Black raised more than $1.3 million through Sept. 30, according to his third-quarter campaign finance report.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
