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      In Georgia, Walker’s Pace in the Finish Worries Republican Allies

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      The Senate candidate’s performance in the final days of the runoff campaign has Republicans airing frustrations. But no one is counting him out yet.ATLANTA — Herschel Walker was being swamped by negative television ads. His Democratic opponents were preparing to flood the polls for early voting as soon as doors opened. After being hit by fresh allegations of carpetbagging, he was left with just over a week to make his final appeals to voters in the runoff for Georgia’s Senate seat.But for five days, Mr. Walker was off the campaign trail.The decision to skip campaigning over the crucial Thanksgiving holiday weekend has Mr. Walker’s Republican allies airing frustrations and concerns about his campaign strategy in the final stretch of the overtime election against Senator Raphael Warnock.Democrats, they point out, have gotten a head start on Republicans in their early-voting push and are drowning out the G.O.P. on the airwaves — outspending them two-to-one. With less than a week to go, time is running out fast for Mr. Walker to make inroads with the moderate conservatives who did not support him during the general election.“We almost need a little bit more time for Herschel’s campaign to get everything off the ground,” said Jason Shepherd, the former chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, pointing to the transition from a general election campaign to a runoff sprint. Notably, the runoff campaign was cut from nine weeks to four by a Republican-backed law passed last year.“I think we’re behind the eight ball on this one,” Mr. Shepherd added.Mr. Shepherd said Mr. Walker’s decision not to campaign during Thanksgiving was just one troubling choice. He also pointed to a series of mailers sent by the Georgia Republican Party encouraging voters to find their polling places that contained broken QR codes as examples of poor organizing. And he raised concern about the steady stream of advertisements supporting Warnock, a first-term senator and pastor, on conservative talk radio and contemporary Christian stations.Supporters listening to Herschel Walker during a campaign event on Monday.Dustin Chambers for The New York TimesBoth Democrats and Republicans note that they are far from counting Mr. Walker out. The race remains within the margin of error, according to recent polling. Democrats outspent Republicans in the general election, too, pouring in more than $100 million, compared with $76 million spent by Republicans.Still, Mr. Walker, the former football star, won 1.9 million votes earlier this month — landing 37,000 votes short of Mr. Warnock and roughly 60,000 votes shy of the 50 percent threshold for winning the seat outright.His campaign has been one of the most turbulent in recent memory: Mr. Walker was found to have lied or exaggerated details about his education, his business, his charitable giving and his work in law enforcement. He acknowledged a history of violent and erratic behavior, tied to a mental illness, and did not dispute an ex-wife’s accusation of assault. Two women claimed that he had urged them to have abortions, although he ran as a staunchly anti-abortion candidate. He denied their accounts. He regularly delivered rambling speeches, which Democrats widely circulated with glee.“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Herschel Walker might be the most flawed Republican nominee in the nation this year,” said Rick Dent, a media consultant who has worked for candidates from both parties and plans to vote for Mr. Warnock.What to Know About Georgia’s Senate RunoffCard 1 of 6Another runoff in Georgia. More

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      In Georgia Runoff, a Campaign Cliché Rules: It All Comes Down to Turnout

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      With control of the Senate no longer at stake, the race between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock is drawing less attention. Both sides are pulling out all the stops to drive voters to the polls.ATLANTA — One month before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, several of Georgia’s grass-roots organizing groups huddled to plan for what they saw as an inevitable outcome: another Senate runoff.This plan, formulated by the same organizers who helped elect the Democratic senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, included budgeting for an added month of canvassing and door knocking, increasing staff outside of the Atlanta area and recording robocalls that could start reaching voters the day after Election Day.Halfway into Georgia’s four-week runoff period, that plan is now in full swing. And grass-roots organizers are not alone. Georgia Democrats and Republicans have poured a combined $38 million into television ads, hired more than 700 additional field staffers and extended invitations to governors, senators and at least one former president ahead of Election Day on Dec. 6.Campaigns and allied groups are feverishly knocking on doors, waving signs and sending text messages imploring Georgians to head back to the polls for the second time in less than a month. All the while, Mr. Warnock and his Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, are traveling alongside high-profile surrogates to re-energize supporters.“If you want to be on top of your game in Georgia, you plan for runoffs,” said Hillary Holley, executive director of Care in Action, the political arm of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, who helped do just that before the general election.Yet, all of this activity is facing some new hurdles: A 2021 law shortened the window for campaigning, giving candidates just four weeks — including the Thanksgiving holiday — to make their final appeals to weary voters. And the stakes, along with national attention, diminished significantly when the Democrats clinched control of the Senate earlier this month, downgrading the race from a final battle over control of the chamber to a fight over whether Democrats would win a 51st vote.Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for the Senate, during a campaign stop in Peachtree City, Ga., this month.Nicole Craine for The New York TimesA child colored in a drawing of Senator Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, during a campaign stop in Cumming, Ga.Nicole Craine for The New York TimesThat reality may have hit Republicans hardest. Mr. Walker’s troubled campaign must not only convince his voters to return but also try to persuade those who rejected him in November to change their minds.Democrats’ biggest challenge is fighting complacency, by finding a message that excites their base and at the same time appeals to voters who don’t often support the party.Georgia Senate Runoff: What to KnowCard 1 of 6Another runoff in Georgia. More

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      What Happened on Georgia’s Last Day of Early Voting

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      Clockwise from top left, Athens, Ga.; the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta; the Bessie Branham Recreation Center in Atlanta; Decatur, Ga.Audra Melton for The New York Times, Nicole Craine for The New York TimesATLANTA — Georgia’s last day of early voting was arguably the busiest of the state’s entire election season, marked not only by a high volume of voters at the polls but also by a surprise endorsement and a major retirement.The endorsement was for Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, and the surprise was that it came from a Democrat: Kwanza Hall, a well-known former congressman in the state who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor earlier this year.The announcement alarmed and frustrated many Georgia Democrats who saw the move as a swipe at Stacey Abrams, the party’s nominee for governor who endorsed Mr. Hall’s opponent Charlie Bailey during the Democratic primary. Mr. Bailey later defeated Mr. Hall in a runoff election.“While we don’t agree on every issue, it’s abundantly clear that Brian Kemp is a man of character, a strong leader, and someone who Georgians can trust to put them and their interests first,” Mr. Hall said in a statement. “Governor Kemp’s door has always been open to those who have Georgia’s best interests at heart, regardless of politics, and that’s why I’m proud to support him in his bid for re-election.”He also threw his support behind Burt Jones, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.Mr. Hall’s endorsement of Mr. Kemp, some Democrats argued, could interfere with their efforts to stoke enthusiasm among the party’s base of Black voters that Democrats need to turn out en masse in order to win on Tuesday.“It could very well solidify this narrative that’s been circulated the last few months about Black men feeling disenfranchised by Democrats,” said Derrick Jackson, an Atlanta-area state representative and vice chair of the state house legislative Black caucus, who pointed to the hundreds of thousands of voters who cast ballots for Mr. Hall, who is Black, during the Democratic primary election in May. “That’s a lot of folks that he can very well have persuaded to say, let me take a second look at Governor Kemp and Burt Jones now.”The news didn’t stop there. Later in the morning, David Ralston, the Republican speaker of the State House, said that he would not pursue another term of his speakership during the upcoming legislative session of Georgia’s House of Representatives, citing his need to address a health challenge. He is running unopposed for his house seat and said he would remain in that post.Mr. Ralston is widely regarded as one of Georgia’s most powerful Republican leaders and a voice of moderation in the General Assembly, where his party has the majority in both chambers. His absence could pave the way for further restrictions on abortion or tighter election oversight measures — items he once signaled his resistance to.The two developments injected even more nervous energy into the final days of an election season that has long put Georgia Democrats ill at ease.And Friday was yet another record-breaking day of early voting turnout, as long lines at polling places around Atlanta stretched well into the evening. By the day’s end, more than 200,000 voters had cast ballots in Georgia, bringing the statewide total to more than 2 million, according to the secretary of state’s office. More

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      Mike Pence Visits Georgia as Gov. Brian Kemp Plays Up Early Turnout

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      CUMMING, Ga. — Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, flanked by former Vice President Mike Pence and several fellow state Republican candidates, stressed the importance of voter turnout Tuesday in a campaign swing through Atlanta’s northern suburbs.With a week to go until Election Day, Mr. Pence ticked through a list of Mr. Kemp’s conservative policy achievements on crime and abortion, and underscored the role that Georgia — where Democrats have made significant inroads over the last four years — will play in national politics.“We need Georgia to lead the way to a great American comeback by re-electing Gov. Brian Kemp,” Mr. Pence told a crowd of supporters at a rally near the town square in Cumming, about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta.Their joint appearance came during the final four days of early voting in Georgia. Mr. Kemp is leading his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, in most polls but implored his supporters to ignore those numbers and turn out. He noted that the party had trailed Democrats in the size and scale of its field operations in recent elections — and that his campaign had helped finance a renewed effort for the 2022 midterms.He pointed to Georgia’s record early vote turnout numbers as proof of the success of that operation — and to rebut complaints from Democratic leaders and voting rights advocates who say the state’s new voting law is suppressive because of its tighter restrictions on ballot drop boxes, voting schedules and absentee ballots, among other provisions.Ms. Abrams has said repeatedly that high turnout numbers do not negate potential voter suppression, an idea that Mr. Kemp called “fuzzy Washington, D.C., math.”“We’re seeing record turnout,” he said. “I would encourage people to go vote and vote for somebody that has been truthful with you.”Mr. Pence, who also campaigned alongside Mr. Kemp last spring as the incumbent fended off a primary challenge from a candidate backed by former President Donald J. Trump, is one of several high-profile Republicans steering clear of Mr. Trump who will visit Georgia on Mr. Kemp’s behalf in the coming days. Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona will campaign alongside Mr. Kemp on Wednesday and Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, will join the bus tour on Thursday and Friday. More