Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in the Georgia Senate runoff, announced in a financial disclosure statement that his Atlanta residence was not used for rental until 2021.
Tax and tax records in Fulton County, Georgia, listed Mr Walker’s wife, Julie Blanchard, as the sole owner of the 1.5-acre property in northwest Atlanta, further undermining the candidate’s narrative of his Georgia residency on the hotly contested December 6 Runoff against Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat.
On a financial disclosure form required by the Senate for incumbents and candidates, Mr. Walker reported in May that the “Georgia residence” generated between $15,001 and $50,000 in rental income for his spouse in 2021. The revelations were previously reported by The Daily Beast.
Here’s what you should know about the questions surrounding Mr. Walker’s whereabouts:
Does a candidate have to live in the state they are running for?
No, although the Constitution requires that senators, once elected, reside in the state they represent.
The details of the Georgia property emerged a week after media reports that Mr Walker had received a tax exemption on his Texas home intended for major residents of the state.
Mr. Walker listed the Atlanta home as an address for his Senate campaign when he filed with the Federal Election Commission in August last year, just before declaring his candidacy. A campaign spokesman for Mr Walker did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
So why is it important?
Mr Walker, a college football legend at the University of Georgia, has presented himself to voters as “born in Georgia, raised in Georgia and if I die, I’m dead in Georgia”. But he has been dogged by accusations of being a carpet digger in the tight, nationally watched race he was pushed into by former President Donald J. Trump.
At a news conference held by Georgia Democrats on Tuesday, Mr Walker’s critics said he had repeatedly misrepresented critical details about his residency, personal life and credentials.
“Georgians have to vote for someone who lives in Georgia,” said Dewey McClain, a state official who, like Mr. Walker, also played in the National Football League. “In other words, Herschel Walker has not been honest with Georgians about where his home is. He tried to trick the system and got caught.”
Some Democrats are asking the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to determine whether Mr. Walker voted illegally in that state or falsely verified that he was a resident. A spokeswoman for the bureau said in an email Tuesday it had not received a request to investigate the matter.
What did Mr. Walker say about living in Georgia?
In an interview published in September by Rolling Out, a multimedia company, Mr Walker said that because of the maintenance involved in maintaining the home, he often stayed at an Atlanta hotel instead of his residence of “about 17 years.” have stayed.
“The weird thing is that I sit on a hotel board, and when I come back to Atlanta, I’ve hardly ever returned to this house because I stayed at the hotel,” Mr. Walker said in the interview at the Atlanta residence. “Because I’m not lazy. I didn’t want to clean up. When you open a house you have to repair it and do all this. So it’s easier to stay in a hotel and not come inside.”
Fulton County put the Atlanta residence’s fair market value that year at $853,800.
Mr Walker said he grew up about two and a half hours away in mid-state, where he noted he had a house and his mother lived.
What is a home equity exemption?
Homestead tax exemptions, offered in many states, are generally designed to give homeowners a tax break for their primary residence.
In Texas, Mr. Walker received an approximately $1,500 waiver for his Dallas-area home, which he listed as his primary residence. According to an official with the tax assessment office of Tarrant County, where Mr. Walker’s Texas home is located, he has received the tax break for that home since 2012. The program requires recipients to own and occupy the home as their primary residence.
According to Jessica A. Corbitt-Dominguez, a Fulton County spokeswoman, there were no homestead exemptions in Atlanta for the property associated with Mr. Walker. There were also no pending requests for tax relief.
Is the Texas Homestead Arrangement Illegal?
No. According to the Texas Comptroller’s Office, homestead exemption recipients can still receive them if they temporarily move away from their home. Mr. Walker is prohibited under the terms of the program from establishing a primary residence elsewhere, but he would still be eligible for the tax break if he intended to return to his home in Texas and move away for less than two years.
What is at stake in the race?
Democrats are keen to retain the seat, which would give them an outright majority in the Senate — meaning they would no longer have to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the casting vote in the divided Senate, and would have single-seat majorities claim in committees. Such an absolute majority would help them move legislation forward and confirm judges and presidential candidates, giving them breathing room when a moderate party breaks the ranks.
