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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Georgia’s U.S. Senate Runoff Election Between Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Atlanta — Today, Georgians voted to advance NARAL-endorsed incumbent Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to the runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia. Warnock will face off against anti-choice, anti-freedom Republican Herschel Walker in the race for this critical seat in the U.S. Senate.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“With Senate Republicans pushing for a national ban on abortion, we can’t afford to have an extremist like Herschel Walker in Congress. Senator Rev. Warnock has shown up and fought for abortion rights time and again, and we need him in the Senate if we have any hopes of passing the Women’s Health Protection Act. We’re not giving up, and we’ll be working alongside our partners and members in Georgia to turn out voters in this crucial runoff race.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth said:
“The past two years have shown us that we need Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock in the U.S. Senate so he can keep fighting for reproductive freedom for Georgians and all Americans. Our work isn’t over, and we look forward to continuing to make sure he is reelected. With Herschel Walker—an extremist who has openly called for a national abortion ban—still in the running to represent Georgia, our freedom to decide is under threat like never before. Now, we must do everything we can to make sure anti-choice politicians like Walker know there is a political price to pay for using our most fundamental freedoms for political gain.”
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 15 states, including Georgia, are enforcing extreme or total bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
NARAL endorsed Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot in Georgia during this critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. The program focuses on deep field investments in phone banking, door knocking, youth organizing, and canvassing, along with a robust communications campaign to support endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives in Pennsylvania, Georgia, California, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. NARAL’s work in Georgia includes:
- Knocking on nearly 3,000 doors, making nearly 90,000 calls, and sending over 89,000 texts;
- Releasing an analysis of early mail ballot requests in Georgia pointing to a growing wave among women and Black voters in the state far outpacing previous elections;
- Conducting polling alongside Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates and EMC Research showing Georgians support of reproductive freedom; and
- Releasing an ad backed by a five-figure buy shining a light on Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s extreme anti-choice agenda.
- Deploying NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju to fight side-by-side with champions and get out the vote in key races.
Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
Key components of our midterm campaign include:
- Harnessing the full power of our 4 million members to mobilize their communities through traditional organizing tactics. In total, we knocked on over 330,000 doors, made nearly 707,000 calls, sent over 868,000 texts, and filled over 4,860 volunteer shifts.
- Continuing to broaden the impact of our cutting-edge research into voter sentiment on abortion, including our pioneering freedom-centered messaging, by training candidates, volunteers, and activists to speak to their communities in ways we know align with their values and move them to act on their beliefs.
- Rolling out a pilot program in Michigan with 14 organizers working on seven four-year college campuses and over 20 community college campuses to enroll voters and activate over 721 volunteers.
- Endorsing candidates in over 200 races nationwide for federal and state offices.
- NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country.
Listening to state leaders and recognizing the power and necessity of real on-the-ground investments, NARAL Pro-Choice America launched its Georgia chapter in 2017 to help build the progressive momentum and infrastructure necessary to make Georgia a key battleground state. NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia spent years working alongside other in-state groups to lay the foundation to help flip Georgia blue, mobilizing tens of thousands of voters to turn out for reproductive freedom champions at all levels.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.