In a campaign speech earlier this year, Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Georgiasaid, “I live in Texas.”
Next Tuesday, Walker will face Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock in a runoff election that began after Warnock won on Election Day but fell short of 50% of the vote. Survey puts the two candidates on a close tie with early voting at a record level.
Control of the Senate is already up for grabs, but a victory in Georgia would give the Democrats total control by a score of 51-49.
Endorsed by Donald Trump, Walker has sparked controversy over his business, allegedly promotion of abortion, family relations and more.
A football star at the University of Georgia, he became a star for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. Earlier this month, CNN reported that he was benefiting from a tax break on a house in Dallas described as his principal residence.
On Tuesday, CNN went back to the well, reporting that in January, while discussing immigration policy in a speech before Republicans at the University of Georgia, Walker said, “I live in Texas … I’ve gone to the border sometimes.”
Walker also said, “Everybody asks me why I decided to run for the Senate? Because to be honest with you, I never, ever, ever thought I would ever do that in my life. And this is the pure truth.
“When I was sitting in my house in Texas, I was sitting in my house in Texas and I saw what was happening in this country. I have seen what is happening in this country, how they are trying to divide people.”
Neither does CNN said Walker has given at least four interviews about his escape to Georgia from his home in Texas.
Republicans have been burned by a similar issue already this year, in another tight race vital for control of the Senate. In Pennsylvania, Democratic candidate John Fetterman focused on questions about whether his opponent, TV doctor Mehmet Oz, actually lives in New Jersey. Fetterman ultimately won in a landslide.
The US Constitution says senators must be 30 years of age, have been a citizen for nine years, and “must … if elected, be an inhabitant of the state for which he shall be elected.”
When CNN first reported on Walker’s Texas tax breaks, Anthony Michael Crais, a Georgia State University law professor, told the network, “It’s more of a political issue than a legal one … in which Walker can be painted as a loophole.”
This week, however, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that legal complaint was filed urging “state investigators … to investigate whether … Walker broke the law by receiving tax breaks on his home in Texas that are intended for major residents of that state, even as he runs for federal office in Georgia.”
The newspaper noted that Walker had registered to vote in Georgia in August 2021, shortly before announcing his candidacy.
Nikema Williams, State Democratic Party Chairwoman, said the AJC Walker may have “lied about being a Georgia resident.”
“Georgians deserve answers,” the US congresswoman said, “and Walker must be held accountable for his pattern of lies and disturbing behavior.”
Walker’s company had no comment.