Walker impresses in Georgia Senate race
...
“He has been running a solid race,” said a Republican operative in Washington who initially worried about Walker’s viability and opposed his candidacy. “The fact that he has a good team and has been listening to their advice is one of the major reasons why he was able to win [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell] and our orbit over.”
The name of Walker’s super PAC derives from the number he wore on his jersey in the NFL and the University of Georgia — also a reference to the election year. Federal law prohibits the Walker campaign from running the super PAC or coordinating with it. But 34N22 has his blessing. The group’s chairman is wealthy Texas entrepreneur Bryan Elliot, a longtime friend and confidant who has founded and managed a range of businesses.
Elliott oversaw the hiring process for 34N22 and decided which consultants to sign. To handle media strategy and polling, he tapped Guy Harrison and Wes Anderson, respectively. The two veteran GOP consultants are partners at the top Washington firm, On Message Inc. The chief fundraiser for 34N22 is Katie Benke, Denver-based finance director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the 2018 election cycle under then-Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.
Chris Homan, based in Dallas, is the super PAC’s general consultant.
In 2020, Homan guided Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne to victory in a congressional district with urban and suburban communities that saw President Joe Biden defeat Trump by roughly 19,000 votes. That achievement impressed Elliott because Walker must do the same thing in Georgia to dislodge Warnock. Austin Barbour, Mississippi-based, is running digital strategy — and 34N22 is already up with an $85,000 digital ad buy targeting “persuadable” Georgia voters.
Stephen Lawson, a Republican strategist in Atlanta who worked on former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s 2020 campaign, is advising 34N22 on communications strategy. In a telephone interview Thursday, Lawson discussed the super PAC’s strategy, saying the group was planning a “multimillion” effort to focus on swing voters, an estimated 4% of the Georgia electorate by 34N22 strategists.
“We’re going to really be carrying a lot of the water in terms of exposing and defining Warnock, that’s the lane we’re going to run in,” said Lawson, a veteran of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 2018 campaign and Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s 2014 gubernatorial bid.
...
Warnock is not an impressive figure and he has made the mistake of being in lockstep with Pelosi, Schumer et al. The Democrats in Congress are some of the most unpopular figures in politics these days.
Comments
Post a Comment