Herschel Walker plans Ponte Vedra fundraiser

Image via AP.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker of Georgia is headed back to Northeast Florida for another fundraiser event.

On March 1, Janet and Dale Westling will host a lunch event in Ponte Vedra for the former Heisman winner.

Host committee membership is $10,000 per person, and for that the attendee gets a private lunch, a photograph with the candidate, and a free “Team Herschel” hat. Meanwhile, $1,000 is the baseline contribution, which includes the hat and the lunch, but no photograph with Walker, the current Republican front-runner.

Not available at any price: autographs from Walker.

“Thank you for understanding,” reads the invite from the Team Herschel People’s Champion Committee.

The invitation was first reported by Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, the event is not Walker’s first foray into Northeast Florida as he attempts to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia this November.

Last October, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was the co-host of a Walker event, coinciding with Florida-Georgia Weekend.

This fundraiser and many more will be needed given that the Georgia Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most expensive midterm elections in the country, as Georgia Public Broadcasting notes.

“Warnock reported $9.8 million in contributions from across the country during the last three months of 2021 alone, with nearly $23 million amassed in the bank. His top GOP rival, (Donald) Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker, brought in $5.3 million in the final quarter, more than $9 million since joining the race late August and has $5.4 million cash on hand.”

Walker still has a Primary Election, but polls show him with a commanding lead against a crowded field.

Fresh polling covered by the in-state Capitol Beat website shows Walker is the choice of 70% of 1,072 likely GOP primary voters surveyed between Feb. 11 and Feb. 13 by the Trafalgar Group.