The National Republican Senatorial Committee has released a new ad in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race.
The ad, titled “The Acting Senator,” does not mention Republican nominee Herschel Walker and instead blasts Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock as more of an “actor” than a Senator.
“As this election mini-series continues, it seems like Raphael Warnock belongs in Hollywood, not Washington getting buried in peanuts, pretending to drive a bus, playing in Back to the Future,” a narrator says over clips of various Warnock campaign ads.
“Warnock’s a great actor, he just doesn’t act like your Senator. Spending, taxes, energy — you name it. Warnock votes with Joe Biden 96% of the time and that act is getting old.”
The Warnock vs. Walker race is advancing to a runoff after neither candidate secured a majority of the vote. The latest tally shows Warnock ahead by 0.9%, or about 35,000 votes, but a few tenths of a point short of a majority. Walker received 48.5% of the vote while Libertarian Chase Oliver received 2.1%.
In a news release accompanying the ad announcement, NRSC Spokesman T.W. Arrighi said, “Georgians don’t support 96% of Joe Biden’s policies, so why does their U.S. Senator? It’s because he is a great actor, selling the people of Georgia one thing and then voting for an agenda of higher taxes, more spending, and more expensive energy. It’s time for a Georgia Senator who actually represents the people who elect him. It’s time for Herschel Walker.”
Warnock and Walker will be the only candidates on the ballot in the Dec. 6 runoff election.
Notably, Warnock was elected to the U.S. Senate two years ago under similar circumstances. He was the top vote-getter in the 2020 special election for the U.S. Senate seat he currently holds, but he failed to get a majority of the vote on the crowded ballot. In the runoff, he defeated appointed incumbent Kelly Loeffler 51%-49%.
The Georgia race could potentially determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In addition to Georgia, races are too close to call in Arizona and New Mexico. Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly currently leads by about 100,000 votes in Arizona with about 70% of the expected vote tabulated, while Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is trailing by 16,000 votes in Nevada with about 83% of the expected vote counted.
Since Democrats control the White House, they only need to control 50 seats to maintain their majority. Including only 2022 races that have been called or were not on the ballot this year, Democrats hold 48 seats while Republicans hold 49 seats, meaning either party would need to win two of the three remaining seats to have a majority.
The NRSC ad is below.
