Mitch McConnell backs Herschel Walker for Georgia Senate

Senate candidate Herschel Walker speaks during former President Donald Trump's Save America rally in Perry, Ga.

Ben Gray / AP Photo

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday endorsed Herschel Walker for the Senate in Georgia, lending the clout of the highest-ranking elected GOP official in the country to the candidacy of a former football star whose turbulent personal history could create problems for his general election campaign.

Walker is the odds-on favorite to win the Republican primary next May and at an initial glance seems to have a coveted political profile as he seeks the chance to unseat Democrat Raphael Warnock, the state’s first Black senator, and help the GOP regain control of the Senate.

Walker was a football hero at the University of Georgia before a long NFL career. He’s a business owner whose chicken products are widely distributed. And he’s a Black conservative with backing from former President Donald Trump, a longtime friend who repeatedly urged Walker to run.