It’s the town where he made history, delivering the University of Georgia Bulldogs a national title. But 41 years later, Athens did not reciprocate.
Clarke County, home to the Classic City and the University of Georgia, was the only Northeast Georgia county to hand Herschel Walker defeat in the December 6 Senate runoff.
Clarke County, like most other metropolitan areas in the state, voted heavily in favor of Walker’s Democratic opponent Sen. Raphael Warnock. Warnock captured 74% of the Clarke County vote to Walker’s 26%.
It was the only win for Warnock in Northeast Georgia as the rest of the region cut heavily in favor of the Trump-backed former running back from Wrightsville.
BANKS
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
5,828 – 89.30%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
698 – 10.70%
6,526 votes
13,457 active voters
Total turnout: 48%
CLARKE
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
9,734 26.23%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
27,372 73.77%
37,106 votes cast
69,424 active voters
Total turnout: 53%
ELBERT
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
4,712 70.86%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,938 29.14%
6,650 votes cast
12,290 active voters
Total turnout: 54%
FRANKLIN
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
6,925 86.55%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,076 13.45%
8,001 votes cast
15,236 active voters
Total turnout: 53%
HABERSHAM
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
12,662 82.35%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
2,714 17.65%
15,376 votes cast
28,534 active voters
Total turnout: 54%
HALL
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
47,424 72.74%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
17,773 27.26%
65,197 votes cast
133,359 active voters
Total turnout: 49%
HART
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
7,505 76.78%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
2,270 23.22%
9,775 votes cast
17,139 active voters
Total turnout: 57%
JACKSON
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
21,608 78.69%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
5,851 21.31%
27,459 votes cast
54,471 active voters
Total turnout: 50%
MADISON
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
8,694 76.22%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
2,712 23.78%
11,406 votes cast
21,023 active voters
Total turnout: 54%
OCONEE
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
13,541 67.23%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
6,600 32.77%
20,141 votes cast
30,497 active voters
Total turnout: 66%
RABUN
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
5,741 77.09%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,706 22.91%
7,447 votes cast
12,688 active voters
Total turnout: 59%
STEPHENS
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
6,701 80.13%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,662 – 19.87%
8,363 votes cast
18,086 active voters
Total turnout: 46%
TOWNS
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
5,193 80.29%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,275 19.71%
6,468 votes cast
10,434 active voters
Total turnout: 62%
UNION
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
10,212 80.82%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
2,424 19.18%
12,636 votes cast
20,413 active voters
Total turnout: 62%
WHITE
Herschel Junior Walker (Rep)
9,414 83.26%
Raphael Warnock (I) (Dem)
1,893 16.74%
11,307 votes cast
21,121 active voters
Total turnout: 54%
Warnock won re-election with 51.35% of the statewide vote. He received 1,814,841 votes to Walker’s 1,719,387 votes (48.65%). More than 3.5 million of Georgia’s 7 million voters cast ballots in the runoff for a statewide turnout of 50.47%.
