Walker raises $12 million in three months for Georgia Senate bid

Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, pulled in $12 million in the third quarter of the year, marking a dramatic escalation in his pace of fundraising. 

The former NFL star’s $12 million haul is more than twice the $5.8 million he raised in the previous quarter spanning April 1 to June 30. He entered October with more than $7 million in the bank. 

“The people are so fired up for a new warrior in Washington that they have literally put their money where their mouths are,” Walker said in a statement. 

But even with his record third-quarter fundraising haul, Walker is still trailing his Democratic opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, in the money race. Warnock announced earlier this week that he raised more than $26 million over the past three months and entered the final stretch of the contest with $13.7 million on hand.

The race between Warnock and Walker was also upended earlier this week after The Daily Beast reported that Walker paid for his then-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009. Walker has campaigned as a staunch opponent of the procedure and has called for a national abortion ban. 

Walker has denied the allegations detailed in that report and has threatened to sue The Daily Beast for defamation. 

The U.S. Senate race in Georgia is among the most competitive in the country. Republicans need to net only one seat in the Senate to recapture a majority, and the Peach State offers the party one of its best chances to do so. 

Recent polling shows Warnock with the edge. One survey from InsiderAdvantage and Fox 5 in Atlanta out this week found the Democratic incumbent with a 3-point lead over Walker, while another poll from SurveyUSA and Atlanta-based news station 11Alive showed Warnock with a staggering 12-point advantage.

The two candidates are set to meet on the debate stage next week in Savannah, Ga.