EXCLUSIVE: The Republican National Committee is sending hundreds of party officials and staffers to Georgia Monday as the runoff between Democrat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP candidate Herschel Walker gets underway, Fox News has learned.
By close of business Monday, the RNC will have more than 300 staff members on the ground in the Peach State, and another 100 GOP staffers will travel to Georgia by Friday.
An RNC official told Fox News that the additional staff builds on the party’s data-driven ground game, which they operated throughout the midterm election cycle. The official told Fox News that paid staff alone represents a multi-million dollar investment.
"Republicans from across the ecosystem are united in our support for Herschel Walker and his runoff election," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News. "Our staff and volunteer network, along with our paid voter contact and Election Integrity program, will only continue to grow in the coming weeks to deliver a historic win for Georgia Republicans."
FIRST ON FOX: WALKER HAULS IN $3.3 MILLION ON RUNOFF'S FIRST DAY
The 2022 Georgia Victory Committee was formed by the RNC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Georgia GOP and Walker’s campaign.
Walker finished roughly 35,000 votes behind Warnock out of nearly 4 million votes cast in the Senate election in the battleground state of Georgia.
A runoff election is a second election held when neither candidate meets the required threshold of votes for victory. The threshold of required votes in runoff elections is determined by each state, but is typically a simple majority. In Georgia, the winning candidate must win 50% of the votes or more to claim victory, and both Warnock and Walker came up short of that goal.
WHAT IS A RUNOFF? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATES
A runoff race is familiar ground for Warnock, who was elected to the Senate in a runoff against then-GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Jan. 5 2021.
In an NRSC memo to donors, supporters, and the Republican Senate Caucus on Saturday, NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said "resources in a runoff are critical."
"Team Herschel is raising money at a prodigious pace, with $3 million raised on Wednesday and $4 million raised on Thursday," Scott wrote. "The money going directly to Herschel Walker’s campaign is the most important money that will be raised during this runoff."
Scott said the Georgia Victory Committee will "support Team Herschel’s efforts, as well as the air support and ground game run through the NRSC and the RNC."
Scott touted the support Republicans are giving to Walker’s campaign and said Republicans "need the resources" to continue those efforts, and warned that "Warnock, Schumer and the Democrat machine is going to kick into full gear and we need to have the resources to fight back."
Warnock raised $103 million for his 2022 re-election campaign, more than doubling the $39 million hauled in by Walker.
A Walker campaign source told Fox News that they plan to hold rallies in large-population areas where turnout happens, with the aim of energizing supporters of former President Trump, "soft Republicans" and independents to vote in the runoff race next month.
Warnock, a Baptist pastor and the Democratic incumbent in the Georgia Senate race, was elected in a 2021 special election, narrowly defeating Loeffler.
Walker, who won a Heisman Trophy and helped steer the University of Georgia to a college football national championship four decades ago, jumped into the GOP race to face off against Warnock in the summer of last year, after months of support and encouragement to run for the Senate by former President Trump, his longtime friend.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Kyle Morris and Sophia Slacik contributed to this report.
