NFL to GOP: Herschel Walker and his controversies

The United States opened its polls on Tuesday for the 2022 midterms and, a day later, not all the results were in. A state that hasn't yet been called was Georgia, where Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock is neck-in-neck with Republican Herschel Walker.

First-time candidate and former NFL running back Walker won the endorsement of former president Donald Trump, with Republicans hoping his name and popularity could translate into victory. 

Walker is a notably hard-line pro-life advocate, meaning "no exceptions" - even in cases of rape, incest, or if it threatens the life of the mother. He has previously likened abortion, a priority issue for Democrats following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, to murder, taking one of the hardest stances of any Republican candidate. 

However, there may be one exception for Waker - when it impacts him. 

In early October, The Daily Beast published a report claiming that Walker urged a former partner to get an abortion and paid for it himself. The same woman also went to the New York Times and said that Walker pressured her to get a second abortion. 

A second anonymous woman also made the same claim. 

And, while most will know his son Christian, the conservative social media star who publicly denounced him, Walker is reported to have a second son with whom he is not in contact.

One may recall a 2020 interview where Walker called the absence of fathers “a major, major problem." 

“If you have a child with a woman,” Walker has said, “even if you have to leave that woman — even if you have to leave that woman — you don’t leave that child.”

Walker also faces allegations of domestic violence and stalking from multiple women, including his ex-wife. Additionally, comments Walker has made have raised questions about his political experience, including those that counter scientific evidence. 

Will Walker find himself in the Senate with this trail of controversies behind him? With Georgia likely to enter a run-off it's possible we won't know until December, and by then, it's possible that even more will be revealed.