Georgia voters share where they stand in the Senate runoff election

Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker are working to energize voters as they make their final pitches in the Georgia Senate runoff.

For both parties, the runoff election — triggered when neither Senate candidate won a majority of the vote in November — provides a final test of their ability to motivate their base and persuade the political middle in an increasingly purple state.

Voters in Lawrenceville, Ga., spoke with The Washington Post ahead of Tuesday’s election. This is what they said:

Michelle Williams, 59, is a store owner and entrepreneur who lives in Lawrenceville. She plans to vote for Warnock because he’s active in the community and is a pastor.

“I know it doesn’t go together, God and politics, but it goes together in my book because you’ve got to have something that you stand for and to be an honest person and a man of God,” she said. “I believe what he’s saying that he can do and he will for the community. I’ve seen him around, it’s not like he’s hiding behind closed doors in an office somewhere.”

Williams’s 19-year-old daughter Mia Barnes said she also plans to vote for Warnock.

“I really think women should have the say for their bodies, that’s a big one for me,” Barnes said. “I feel like everyone should have a say for themselves and to have someone who can stand with you on that.”

“The reason I voted the way I did is because of the economy,” said Antonio Goncalves, 66, a technician who lives in Suwanee, Ga. He says he is a Christian who is against abortion rights and chose not to get the vaccine for coronavirus.

“I voted Republican all along. You cannot blame me for what’s going on, that’s what I say to my friends at work, ‘don’t blame me for what’s going on.’”

“Nothing against Herschel Walker, but he is not Senate material. And Raphael Warnock has shown what he can do for us in Georgia and so I definitely voted for him,” said Linda Wood, a 77-year-old resident of Buford, Ga. “I am a Democrat, but I am not a die-hard Democrat. I will vote for a Republican when I need to.”

“The stuff I’m hearing about both candidates is making me go: ‘Now it’s not a matter of which one of the candidates is going to do a really marvelous job, it’s which one do I think is going to do the least damage,’ ” said Amanda Gabrell, a 37-year-old Lawrenceville resident who voted for Walker.

“I’m sorry to say Warnock’s track record does not make me put faith in him and I don’t appreciate that because he’s a pastor within my faith. And to hear some of the stuff he voted for I find is counter to what our faith stands for gives me all the more reason not to trust him and not to vote for him.”

“Mostly for me, it’s women’s rights, and also rights for my son because these things will affect him in the long run,” said Brionne Folds, a 42-year-old speech pathologist who lives in Lawrenceville.

“I voted for Raphael Warnock because of his core values. I believe he can make a change for certain minorities such as myself and for the future of my family. With Herschel Walker, I can’t agree with what he stands for, he’s against women’s rights,” said Merrill Folds, 44, a warehouse associate who also lives in Lawrenceville.

“I still have a day or two to do my research to choose, I don’t want to say the lesser of two evils, but the lesser of two evils,” said Lenore Browder, 45, who wrote herself in on the ballot for Senate on Election Day on Nov. 8. “There’s good and bad on both sides, but I’m not ashamed to say I did not vote for either one of the candidates the first time and now I have no choice.”

Trey Moody, 47, voted for Walker in November but had yet to vote in the runoff election. “I’m not really a big fan of the Democrats keeping more control. I really just voted mainly because of that,” he said. “I don’t think anybody should have full control, there’s good and bad on both sides, but I’m not really a huge fan of what the Democrats have been doing the last few years.”

“I voted for Warnock mainly because of climate change. I feel like the voters can push it where it needs to go,” said Lydia Milling, a 69-year-old retiree who voted early and encouraged her grandchildren to vote early. “I can deal with the cost of food going up. I can eat differently, but I can’t change the climate by myself.”

“It’s a balance of issues. No one issue is so important to me that it’s going to control every other issue as far as how I vote,” said Vic Geotz, a 67-year-old retired financial officer who lives in Athens, Ga. “I understand where the Republican candidate is on the issues, if nothing else, I can say: ‘you said you were going to do this and you didn’t.’”

“People are questioning [Walker’s] ability to perform the duties of the office simply because he does not come across as polished and as presentable as the Democratic candidate.”

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Credits

Photography and reporting by Audra Melton. Photo editing and production by Christine T. Nguyen.