Few have been clamoring for Herschel Walker’s return to politics since he failed in his bid for the Georgia Senate nearly two years ago. But they are certainly interested in his campaign money.
Georgia and national Republicans, who are in dire need of money, are furious that Walker has more than $4 million in campaign funds remaining and appears to have no intention of using them to help the Republican Party or Donald Trump in the key state of battle in November.
With the Georgia Republican Party nearly bankrupt and the Republican National Committee regularly outpaced by its Democratic counterpart, Republicans say Walker’s unspent millions could go a long way toward solving the GOP’s cash crunch.
“These resources were requested and given to support his candidacy as a Georgia Republican, and unless he intends to use them again for his own candidacy, I hope the favor is returned,” said John Watson, former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. state of Georgia. “Georgia Republicans should be supported by these dollars in any legal way the campaign can.”
Since the political novice and former football star lost to Democrat Rev. Rafael Warnock in the high-profile race, he virtually disappeared from political circles. Walker had a good run in the primaries, but her campaign was marred by several personal scandals, revealing children born out of wedlock and hidden abortions that undermined her campaign pitch of conservative values. He was consistently raised by Warnock, and his campaign strategy was undermined by Walker’s interference.
After the race, Walker eventually re-enrolled at the University of Georgia to finish his undergraduate degree — the same school where he won the Heisman Trophy his freshman year decades ago.
When reached by phone, Walker denied his seven-figure bank balance of unspent funds in his campaign account.
“There was no money left in my account. Everyone keeps saying that,” Walker said.
Asked to clarify what he meant, Walker quickly ended the call, saying he was writing an article. He said “we could talk about this sometime” but did not respond to several additional questions, including the most recent one last week.
A Georgia Republican strategist with knowledge of Walker’s campaign said unspent funds should be refunded to donors, shared with Republican committees or used to help Trump in the 2024 race.
“The Republicans are spending a lot on every vote and there is a significant amount of resources sitting there,” said the strategist, who was granted anonymity to discuss the issue. “It could be supporting Trump, who did a lot for Herschel’s campaign.”
Walker, a former NFL running back who entered the 2022 Georgia Senate race with Trump’s support, ended his failed campaign with more than $5 million in the bank. He still had $4.3 million in his account at the end of March, according to the latest financial disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Walker transferred $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s legal recount fund and donated about $400,000 to various nonprofits and charities. But most of the money left over from the campaign is still in his account.
The FEC limits what campaign funds can be spent on. The money must be used for electioneering purposes — in a campaign or transferred to another active committee — or Walker could donate it to charity. Walker and his treasurer remain trustees of the funds and cannot transfer the money directly to Walker.
But campaign money could be helpful to the Republican Party’s bottom line.
At this point in the 2020 election cycle, the Georgia Republican Party had $1.2 million in cash on hand. Now it says it has less than half that value. It is also spending a significant portion — $1.9 million since the start of 2021 — of its funds on legal fees for Republicans accused in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ voter racketeering case, in accordance with the latest financial disclosure forms.
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon, who raises funds for the state party, declined to discuss any personal conversations he may have had with Walker about unspent campaign funds.
This year, state Republicans are focused on the presidential race and maintaining their majorities in the state legislature, and a Georgia GOP strategist, Brian Robinson, said Walker’s money would be better used to help legislative candidates in competitive districts.
“I would give it directly to the candidates at the legislative level because in order to maintain majorities in Georgia, we really have to fight here,” he said.
A senior national GOP official said Republicans have not heard from Walker in months and that they were not aware of any party committees or campaigns currently requesting a verification of Walker’s old campaign account.
But Walker has donated some of his campaign money, although not primarily to the party.
Although Republicans complain that Walker has not contributed money to the party, the campaign committee has donated about $410,000, mostly to nonprofits such as the Horatio Alger Association, the Boys and Girls Club and Herschel’s 34 and Johnson City Class of 1980, a nonprofit that has been registered since 2016 in Walker’s hometown of Wrightsville, Georgia, according to FEC filings.
He also donated $100,000 to Polaris Action Inc, a group focused on national security founded by Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department official in the Trump administration who was stumped by Walker during the campaign.
“No one would be surprised if and when he starts spending this money that goes to any group of newly formed charities in or around Dallas,” said a second Georgia Republican Party operative, referencing where Walker lived before running. to the Senate in Georgia.
Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.
