Researcher ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-2030-0487
Graduation Year
2022
Date of Submission
12-2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Reader 1
Professor John J Pitney
Rights Information
2022JaniseLWaites
Abstract
The Republican Party is known as the Party of Lincoln, they emancipated African Americans from slavery and worked to grant them equalities and rehabilitate them into the US. However, over the next few decades, the GOP began to devalue the Black vote in favor of White Southerners. Black voters support candidates who advocate for their social, economic, and political prosperity. Their loyalty shifts when the party advocates for policies that are harmful to their overall development. Over time, Georgia remained a battleground state as the ideologies shifted in the Democratic and Republican parties. After being a Democratic stronghold for the duration of its statehood, Georgia became a Republican stronghold as rural White voters dominated the polls and Black voters remained disenfranchised. The 2020 election cycle was game-changing as Georgia went blue for the first time in 30 years, and Georgia elected its first US Black Senator. Thanks to grassroots efforts by Stacey Abrams and other GOTV organizations, minority voters turned out in record numbers for a crucial election. Herschel Walker is a well-known football player running as a Black Republican against incumbent Raphael Warnock to be Georgia’s Senator. Despite Walker’s distressing past, he gained endorsements from top Republicans as his endorsement from Former President Trump had him leading in the polls for the Republican primary. I predict this will be a close race as white voters will support Walker and the majority of Black voters will support Warnock.
Recommended Citation
Waites, Janise, "Herschel Walker, Black Voters, and the 2022 U.S Senate Race in Georgia" (2022). CMC Senior Theses. 2862.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2862
