WHAT GEORGIANS ARE SEEING: Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis, Local Leaders, and Voters Say “No Way Walker”

Yesterday, Augusta voters held a press conference highlighting how Herschel Walker lacks the character and the competence to be Georgia’s U.S. Senator. With Georgia’s Senate runoff election rapidly approaching — early voting is November 28th through December 2nd, and Election Day is on December 6th — speakers reminded Georgians why Walker has not earned their vote to represent them in the U.S. Senate and encouraged voters to turnout and make their voices heard. 

Here’s what Georgians are seeing and hearing: 

WRDW: Mayor Davis Calls Out Herschel Walker’s Incompetence and Lack of Character

•  Mayor Hardie Davis: We’ve got a Senate race that’s been thrust into a runoff..a runoff that’s the decision between competence and character versus incompetence and lack of character.
  
• Craig Allison, WRDW: Mayor Davis doubled down on Warnock as the obvious choice for Georgia, citing his work to keep the price of insulin down while maintaining the U.S. highway system, keeping military bases from Texas to Georgia connected.
  
•  Mayor Hardie Davis: Augusta, Georgia has been an incredible beneficiary of the work of our two U.S. senators. It’s been a long time coming when you’ve got senators that you not only see in Augusta, but that you can pick up the phone and call.
  
• Craig Allison, WRDW: And despite a Democratically-controlled Senate, Walker didn’t make any mention of working across the aisle.

WJBF: Local Democrats Show Support for Warnock  

• Jennie Montgomery, WJBF: “Meanwhile, supporters of Walker’s opponent Raphael Warnock are saying no way to Herschel Walker. News Channel 6’s Tiffany Hobbs has more.” 
  
• Tiffany Hobbs, WJBF: “Here at Brookfield Park Augusta voters and leaders met to encourage people to re-elect Senator Raphael Warnock in the December runoff. 
  
• “Augusta leaders are concerned about Herschel Walker’s readiness to represent Georgia in the Senate. They claim Walker lacks the character and competence to be a U.S. Senator.” 
  
• Mayor Hardie Davis: “Herschel Walker not only isn’t ready or fit to be able to serve in the U.S. Senate, but more importantly he’s not the senator that we need to send to Washington on training wheels. We’ve got a U.S. Senator who already knows how to get things done, a Senator who knows how to work across the aisle.” 
  
• Tiffany Hobbs, WJBF: “Leaders also say Senator Warnock’s support of veterans is crucial to Georgia. 
  
• Rep. Gloria Frazier: “As a son of an Army veteran, he’s led the fight for Georgia’s veterans and military families in the Senate. My husband is retired military 23 years. I was a spouse for those 23 years and we traveled all over the world, and veterans deserve to be taken care of here in Georgia.”
  
• Tiffany Hobbs, WJBF: “Area leaders say Senator Warnock has remained committed to the needs of Georgians throughout his term.” 
  
• Commissioner Jordan Johnson: “What we have been able to accomplish usually starts with a phone call to Senator Warnock in his office, because at the end of the day we have a Senator in office who understands the everyday plight of everyday people. I don’t see this from any perspective other than the fact that I’m on the ground talking to people every single day, whether that’s Carrie Street or Milledge Road.” 
  
• Tiffany Hobbs, WJBF: “Augusta leaders urge Georgia voters to cast their votes early beginning November 28th, or on election day December 6th. 

WFXG: Local Politicians Rally for Warnock 

• Lauren Young, WFXG: “Representatives from the Democratic Party of Georgia hosted a rally Monday morning reminding voters the race to the Senate is not over yet.
  
• Mayor Hardie Davis: “Georgia is at the epicenter of national elections. We’ve got a Senate race that’s been thrust into a runoff, a runoff that should have never happened. A decision between competence and character versus incompetence and the lack of character.”
  
• Lauren Young: “Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis says in choosing the right man for the job, Augustans need only look to incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock’s resume and his work alongside Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.”
  
• Mayor Hardie Davis: “Augusta Georgia has been an incredible beneficiary of the work of our two US senators. It’s been a long time coming when you got senators that you not only see at Augusta, but that you can pick up the phone and call.”
  
• Lauren Young: “State Representative Gloria Frazier asserts not only is Warnock the best choice to represent Georgia – Republican candidate Herschel Walker, she insists, has no business in Washington.”
  
• Representative Gloria Frazier: “I’m disturbed with Herschel Walker’s well documented pattern of lies – I’m gonna say it, lies – and disturbing behaviors.”
  
• Lauren Young: “Commissioner Jordan Johnson says the expectation is central.”
  
• Commissioner Jordan Johnson: “Anyone who wants to represent the people of Georgia should possess the highest amount of character, the highest amount of decency, integrity, and respect for what it means to serve this great state and its people.”
  
• Lauren Young: “And that only one candidate has already proven himself to meet that standard.”
  
• Commissioner Jordan Johnson: “Reverend Warnock has proven that he is someone that we can trust. We have confidence in him to do the right thing. And we know that because of the last two years, he’s always kept Georgia first and has put us over politics.”
   
• Mayor Hardie Davis: “[Walker] is not the Senator that we need to send to Washington on training wheels. We’ve got a U.S. Senator who already knows how to get things done.”
  
• Lauren Young: “Democratic leaders in Augusta urging all eligible citizens to get out and vote. Early voting begins November 28, with Election Day on December 6.”
  

The Augusta Chronicle: ‘We need a warrior’: Herschel Walker rallies Augusta area, leaders protest against him

• But a few miles away at Brookfield Park, the tone surrounding Walker was very different.
  
• Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis joined Augusta Commissioner Jordan Johnson, the recently reelected Rep. Gloria Frazier, and a small handful of supporters in the hour before Walker’s appearance.
  
• “It’s clear that Herschel Walker not only isn’t ready or fit to be able to serve in the U.S. Senate, but more importantly, he’s not the senator that we need to send to Washington,” Davis said.
  
• The Democrats also expressed support for incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.
  
• “Georgia deserves a senator who remains committed to the values that we stand for, and luckily, that’s who Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock is,” Frazier said.
  
• “What we have been able to accomplish usually starts with a phone call to Sen. Warnock,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we have a senator in office who understands the everyday plight of everyday people.”
  

WRDW: Augusta mayor speaks out against Senate candidate Walker

• Almost a week after Election Night, the campaign for a Georgia Senate seat is hot in Augusta.
  
• Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis started off the morning by holding “No Way Walker: Mayor Hardie Davis, Augusta Voters Stand Against Herschel Walker.”
  
• “We’ve got a Senate race that’s been thrust into a runoff … a runoff that is the decision between competence and character, versus incompetence and lack of character,” Davis said Monday.
  
• Just down the road later in the morning, GOP Senate candidate Walker himself made a campaign stop in Augusta as part of his “Evict Warnock” bus tour.
  
• While Davis wasn’t speaking with or necessarily on behalf of Sen. Raphael Warnock, Davis was a speaker at Warnock’s watch party last week in Atlanta.
  
• After last week’s election was indecisive, Walker and Warnock will battle in a Dec. 6 runoff for the Senate seat Warnock now holds.
  
• The mayor said Walker has told untruths.
  
• “You know, this is the same man who holds up a badge and says that he’s part of law enforcement. … We’ve got somebody walking around with a fake badge. We don’t need that,” Davis said.
  
• “The choice is clear. Georgia, we’ve got to re-elect Reverend Warnock, who has a record of actually supporting workers and doers – bringing down costs, addressing supply chain issues, creating good-paying jobs that sustain Georgia families – instead of just pretending, like Herschel Walker.”
  
• Also at the event was Democratic state Rep. Gloria Frazier.
  
• “Georgia deserves a senator who remains committed to the values that we stand for. And luckily, that’s who Senator Reverend Warnock is,” she said, pointing out that Warnock “has brought the voices and concerns of our veterans and service members to the forefront and work in the Senate.”
  
• Augusta Commission member Jordan Johnson also spoke.
  
• “Herschel Walker is someone who has lied over and over again about every aspect of his record. It would take us all day to sit here and go through every lie that Herschel Walker has told. Not to mention his disturbing conduct that he’s admitted to, that his family has exposed,” Johnson said.
  
• “Anyone who wants to represent the people of Georgia should possess the highest amount of character, the highest amount of decency, integrity, and respect for what it means to serve this great state and its people — but unfortunately, Herschel Walker has none of these characteristics.”

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