Hershel Walker, the former Republican Georgia Senate candidate from 2022, still holds millions of dollars in unspent campaign funds, causing frustration among Peach State Republicans who believe Walker should allocate the money to support the GOP in the upcoming November elections.
Walker, who was defeated by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in the Georgia runoff election, reported having over $4 million in cash on hand at the end of March, according to an April Federal Election Commission filing. Financial disclosures reveal that Walker had more than $5 million remaining in his campaign account at the end of his unsuccessful 2022 Senate bid.
For Republicans, that $4 million could be highly beneficial as the 2024 election approaches, potentially aiding former President Donald Trump and helping lawmakers running in Georgia, a critical battleground state. President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in Georgia in 2020.
“Those resources were solicited and given to support his candidacy as a Georgia Republican, and unless he intends to use them again for his own candidacy, I sure hope the favor would be returned,” John Watson, former chairman of the Georgia GOP, told Politico. “Georgia Republicans should be supported by those dollars in whatever legal fashion the campaign can.”
Walker, who recently reenrolled at the University of Georgia for his undergraduate degree, denied that $4 million remains in his campaign account.
“It wasn’t money left in my account. Everyone keeps saying that,” Walker said. One Republican strategist in Georgia emphasized the importance of redirecting the $4 million to GOP committees, supporting Trump, or refunding donors.
“Republicans are being outspent everywhere up and down the ballot, and there’s a significant sum of resources just sitting there,” the strategist told Politico. “It could be supporting Trump, who did a ton for Herschel’s campaign.”
The bulk of Walker’s campaign funds stayed in his account post-defeat, aside from $100,000 transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s legal recount fund and approximately $400,000 given to nonprofits such as the Boys and Girls Club and the Horatio Alger Association. Walker also redirected funds to Polaris Action, a national security-focused group founded by former Trump State Department official Morgan Ortagus.
Walker’s key donors for the runoff included the Senate Conservatives Fund, Club for Growth, the Republican Jewish Coalition, among others.
“I would give directly to candidates at the legislature level because to maintain the majorities in Georgia, we’re really having to fight here,” said Brian Robinson, a GOP strategist in Georgia.
