What? What a perfect
transition there, Savannah.
Now though the race was called.
We want to get some reaction
from our political analyst,
state Representative Eric Allen,
Republican strategist Cody Hall and
11 alives year round political analyst
Andre Gillespie here tonight as well.
So how was Reverend Warnock, Senator,
Reverend Warnock able to pull this off?
We'll begin with you first, professor.
He took advantage of his incumbency.
He took advantage of the fact that
Herschel Walker, relatively speaking,
was a weak candidate.
And he stepped up his mobilization
game in order to. Grow his lead.
And so we've seen less attrition
on the democratic side and perhaps
even a little bit of growth.
We'll have to dig into the numbers to be
able to say that definitively tomorrow.
OK, let's talk to Cody.
And so you're the Republican strategist here.
How did why did Walker fall short?
I know that he had a lot of
cloud of controversy connected
with him going through this
runoff election even before that,
but why wasn't he able to pull
this one off? You
think I started with the fundraising
disadvantage that he had?
Against Senator Warnock,
Warnock was the highest
raising Senate candidate.
4 Democrats across the country.
But I do think that there were a lot of
distractions with the Walker candidacy
that a lot of voters couldn't get over.
But I, you know, look, as a Republican,
we've lost three Senate runoffs in two years.
Eventually, with how many times the two
by 4 keeps hitting us in the forehead,
we've got to learn to do something different.
And I think that we have to take a
a close look at our primary process,
how candidates get out of our primary
and really look at the blueprint
that was the November 8th election.
Every single statewide Republican
won without a runoff except
for the Walker campaign.
OK
well, let's talk about Warnock
and as he moves forward,
representative Alan,
so how can Warnock actually
appeal to the other side,
to to walkers base and try to pull
them in over the next six years?
You know, I think he's actually done that.
If you look at the way he's
been messaging on the campaign,
he's really put himself out there as a
candidate who wants to work for all Georgia.
You know, as I said earlier,
he's one of the most.
Partisan senators in the Senate right
now and he really rankled that ran
on that record of really working
across the aisle to get things done.
So I I think over the next six
years you'll see more of the same.
I still think that Georgia
is a is a conflicted state.
We don't know if we read we don't
know if we blue but we definitely
know where battleground and I
think that everything he does from
here on out as well as Senator
Ossoff is going to play into 2024.
So I expect them to do more of the same.
OK. So let's get back to you Cody and.
Let's talk about the Republican
Party and the connection that we've
seen nationally with with Trump,
with President Donald Trump.
Is that a factor?
Is that what maybe heard Walker
it could have helped Walker
brought more voters out.
What do you think
I mean look, I think you have
to look at the facts in the last
four statewide elections that.
A former President Trump has played a
significant role in his election in 2020,
the two general elections in 2020,
the two runoffs and this Senate election,
he's played a major role and
we've lost all four of them.
Those are just the facts.
Those are the numbers.
So I think as Republicans we have to
take a clear look at how we nominate our
candidates and how we run our campaigns.
And I think again,
if you look at the Governor Kemp's campaign,
some of the other statewide elected
Republicans down the ballot on November 8th.
They ran campaigns focused on the issues,
not on the past,
not on what was going on nationally,
not on support of current
or former presidents.
They stay focused on what they
were doing in that moment to help
Jordans fight through inflation,
rising gas prices,
what they were going to do to
help them in their everyday lives.
And I think we've got to realize
that going forward,
that's the way to win elections.
We have the blueprint.
Let's go out and use it.
Yeah. What do you think, Professor?
Should the Republicans now separate
themselves from the former president?
You think that will continue to hurt?
Them in the future.
So I think Republicans are at a point
and they've been at many points over
the course of the last few years where
Donald Trump has done things that have
defied logic and conventional wisdom and
people who knew better to understand up.
And so I think what Cody is suggesting
is a period of self reflection and people
leaning into the things that they know.
There were more experienced
hands who could have said that.
Herschel Walker probably isn't the
best candidate for the US Senate.
So perhaps you shouldn't encourage
him to run for office or to encourage
him in other states to not pick people
because you know they're popular.
On TV, but pick them because of substance.
And I think people are actually
learning the heart lessons of things
that they already knew,
but they were too afraid to say to Donald
Trump because they were afraid of his base.
And so I think that this is a time of
reflection and a time for people to stand
up for the things that they know to be true,
even if in the short term it's unpopular.
And that's been the tough decision that
Republicans have often refused to make.
They've sometimes put short term gain
or not rustling feathers ahead of doing
the things that they know to be right,
that actually in the long run
could actually end up helping them.
OK, well, we're just 15 months.
Away from possibly making
another decision, right.
And so we'll be talking about
this in the future as well.
Thanks a lot.
We really appreciate you guys
staying all evening long.