(FiveNation.com)- Before Herschel Walker’s runoff race against incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock on December 6th, former President Donald Trump will not hold a rally there for Walker (D-GA).
According to Michael Bender of the New York Times, Trump will bypass the state after his team reaches an agreement with Georgia Republicans. The former president could end up lowering voter turnout among moderate Republicans as well as encouraging Democrats to cast ballots.
The choice to keep Mr. Trump out of the limelight was made partly in response to the former president’s political approach and persona, which can invigorate his core followers while also inspiring Democratic voters and alienating sizable portions of moderate Republicans.
That political math has resulted in a net deficit for Mr. Trump in Georgia since he launched his 2024 campaign two weeks ago. He was the first Republican nominee for president to drop the state in 28 years in 2020. His hand-picked primary opponents to battle with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp suffered crushing defeats earlier this year.
Even though Trump continues to have a substantial national impact among Republicans, Peach State conservatives have frequently broken with him as some evidence suggests what might be seen as a rejection of the previous president.
Trump’s support for then-incumbent GOP Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue helped Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) win their respective elections in January. Perdue, who had Trump’s full support, was later defeated by Gov. Brian Kemp in the gubernatorial contest (R).
In this month’s general election, Kemp easily defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams without ever receiving the former president’s support.
Raffensperger’s challenger, chosen by Trump, also struggled in the primary. With only 34% of the vote, Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) could not win, while Raffensperger quickly reached the 50% mark required to avoid a runoff.
Some conservatives see Trump as politically poisonous after the GOP’s poor midterm performance.
After quizzically hosting a couple of anti-Semites at Mar-a-Lago last week, the former president is now dealing with another self-inflicted wound.
