Former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker has announced he will be running for the U.S. Senate in 2022.
A first-time political candidate, Walker said Tuesday he will be seeking the Republican nomination for the seat currently held by Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Walker, who guided the Bulldogs to the college football national championship in 1980 and won a Heisman Trophy, announced earlier this week that he had registered to vote in Georgia after living in Texas for many years.
He played for the Dallas Cowboys and other NFL teams as well as the New Jersey Generals of the U.S. Football League in the 1980s.
That team was owned by former President Donald Trump, who’s maintained a close friendship with Walker and who said several weeks ago that Walker would be “unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. . . . Run, Herschel, Run.”
In an introductory video on his campaign website, Walker said that too many politicians like to divide America, by race as well as in other ways.
“I don’t believe in that garbage,” said Walker, who hailed his small-town roots in Wrightsville, Ga.
“I’m a conservative not because someone told me to be,” he continued. “I’m a conservative because I believe in smaller government, a strong military and making sure all people have the same opportunity to pursue their dreams.
“That’s an America worth fighting for.”
As he spoke, the background featured the voice of Georgia football radio announcer Larry Munson and footage of Walker’s days at UGA.
Among the Republican candidates in the Senate race is Georgia Agriculture Secretary Gary Black.
Walker has name recognition and Trump’s backing, but according to a report in Politico, some Republican leaders in Washington are concerned about his chances in the 2022 general election.
Warnock, the former pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, won a runoff election in January to unseat Republican Kelly Loeffler. She was appointed in Jan. 2020 by Gov. Brian Kemp following the retirement of Johnny Isakson.
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