Since their November 8th Midterm election Senate race, the polling data between (R) Herschel Walker and (D) Raphael Warnock have maintained a razor-thin margin. Black voters have become a point of intense discussion in this race due to the unusual nature of this Senate runoff race in Georgia – both candidates are Black, however, deviate heavily in their political affiliation.
Currently, Real Clear Politics is considering this race to still be considered a toss up. Their polling average has Walker up a total of 1.4 points, however, this will be largely based around if Libertarians come out to vote for Walker or not. One area of hope for Walker is the fact that the December 6th run-off election was sparked due to over 80,000 votes for the Libertarian party candidate, Chase Oliver, who received over 2% of the total vote on November 8th. Oliver will not be on the ticket for the run-off election, and Libertarians have a tendency to fall in line closer to Republicans than they do Democrats.
Democrats have traditionally taken Black voters for granted, and while Democrats can regularly get over 85% of the Black vote in any given election, their optics on the situation regarding Black votes can be considered suspect. Often, Democrats can make statements that appear to be expecting the Black vote, bringing in the racial identity of Black Americans and using it as leverage to prop up the Democratic party as the only option for Black Americans. During the 2020 Presidental election, then Presidental candidate Joe Biden infamously told Charlamagne Tha God, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump then you ain’t black.”
Similarly, Bryce Berry, president of Georgia’s Young Democrats chapter and a senior at Morehouse College said, “Republicans seem to have thought they could put up Herschel Walker and confuse Black folks,” adding, “We are not confused.” Berry, president of Georgia’s Young Democrats, is barely an unbiased party, and would’ve likely supported Warnock simply due to his political affiliation either way. However, there’s nothing pointing to Herschel Walker and Republicans attempting to “confuse Black folks,” a sentiment like this emulates that Democratic voters believe they know best for Black voters.
