Political Rewind: With less than 24 hours until the runoff, Warnock and Walker make final pitches

Caption

Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker were among the top fundraisers in the country during the final months of 2021.

Credit: Stephen Fowler / GPB News and Ben Gray / AP

The panel

Andra Gillespie, @AndraGillespie, professor of political science, Emory University

Bernard Fraga, @blfraga, professor of political science, Emory University

Charles Bullock, professor of political science, University of Georgia

Patricia Murphy, @MurphyAJC, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The breakdown

1. Tomorrow, Georgians will send either Raphael Warnock or Herschel Walker to the Senate.

• With hours left to campaign, Warnock and Walker are making their final stops. Warnock showed up several times, but Walker made only a few appearances, one of which was the SEC Championship.
• Walker took a five-day break from campaigning around Thanksgiving, a notable absence days before the election.

2. Will Herschel Walker lose any support over Trump-related controversies?

• After his dinner with Ye (formerly Kanye West) and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, as well as his calls to overturn the Constitution, Trump's endorsement of Walker could be a burden on Dec. 6 for the senatorial candidate.

3. This is the first shortened runoff election for Georgians. Could ranked-choice voting remove the need for a runoff?

• 80,000 Georgians voted for Chase Oliver, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate. If Georgia had a ranked-choice, or "instant runoff" system, Georgians wouldn't have to go back to the polls.
• Georgia's runoff system descended from state law meant to disadvantage the power of the Black voting bloc to select its chosen candidates. 

4. The Democratic National Committee is looking to move South Carolina's primary first; Georgia's primary third.

• Joe Biden won South Carolina's primary in 2020, changing his then-faltering momentum.
• But critics warn that holding primaries in solidly red states could cause trouble down the road.

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Join our panel for a runoff election day special.