Staff for U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) said Thursday he will not run for the U.S. Senate to replace incumbent U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Carter will instead support Herschel Walker, a Republican, to run against and then replace Warnock.
“Herschel Walker supports the America First agenda and has my complete endorsement,” Carter said in an emailed statement to The Georgia Star News.
“I’ll be his full-back and do everything I can to ensure he has the opportunity to fight for our Georgia values in the United States Senate. I urge you to join me in supporting Herschel and ensuring Radical Raphael Warnock is no longer in the Senate.”
The Brunswick News reported Wednesday that Carter’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate hinged on whether Walker would run.
“The Pooler pharmacist would have been the third 1st District U.S. House member within the past four decades to seek a statewide office had he opted to challenge Warnock in 2022,” The Brunswick News reported.
“U.S. Rep. Bo Ginn ran unsuccessfully for governor in the Democratic primary against Joe Frank Harris in 1982 and Rep. Jack Kingston lost to David Perdue in the 2014 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.”
Walker filed the paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate last month.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested in March that Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner, should run.
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the legendary Herschel Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia,” Trump asked in a statement that month.
“He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. He is also a GREAT person. Run Herschel, run!”
The former NFL player often uses social media to express right-of-center beliefs. Earlier this year, for example, Walker tweeted that elected officials best serve their time “upholding the Constitution and finding solutions to hold companies and our government accountable.”
Walker also said “elected officials are sworn to office to protect the Constitution, foreign and domestic. Anyone not honoring their oath should be impeached.”
In December, Walker endorsed Republicans David Perdue and Kelley Loeffler to retain their U.S. Senate seats out of Georgia. Walker also endorsed Trump’s reelection campaign last year.
According to heisman.com, Walker was born in Wrightsville and attended Johnson County High, where he played football, basketball and competed in track.
“In his senior year of 1979, he rushed for 3,167 yards, helping the Trojans to win their first state championship. The valedictorian of his class, he was awarded the first Dial Award as the 1979 national high school scholar-athlete of the year,” according to the website.
“Of course Walker was coveted by schools all around the country, but he eventually chose his local team, the Georgia Bulldogs. His arrival in Athens was momentous, as he produced one of the great freshman seasons in college football history, rushing for 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns as the Bulldogs went 12-0 and won the national title. Walker tied for the best finish ever (at the time) by a freshman in the Heisman vote, placing third behind George Rogers and Hugh Green.”
Walker later played for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Herschel Walker” by Herschel Walker.
