As promised, Governor Brian Kemp is campaigning with Herschel Walker. Kemp pledged his utmost support in helping Walker win the run-off race with Democrat incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock and that includes hitting the campaign trail with him.

Their first appearance together happened on Saturday in Smyrna, Georgia. The message is unity among Republicans. It is crucial that Kemp publicly lend his support to Walker because Kemp strongly outperformed Walker in the general election. Because of the fact that over 200,000 voters in Georgia’s general election voted for Kemp but not for Walker, Walker did not hit the 50% mark to avoid a run-off. Split-ticket voters caused the run-off. As crazy as it sounds, those voters chose to vote for Kemp for governor and Warnock. They chose to re-elect the incumbent senator rather than vote straight ticket Republican. Walker was the only Republican on the statewide ticket that did not win on November 8.

Both Walker and Warnock are now appealing to the split-ticket voters. Kemp emphasized that even though Democrats have the majority in the Senate, it is important for Republicans to elect Walker. The race matters for the next two years because if Walker wins the run-off, Democrats have to evenly split the composition of committees in the Senate and that can dramatically slow down the pace of Democrats ramming through Joe Biden’s extreme agenda. Kemp spoke for seven minutes.

“Don’t believe the political pundits that are saying, ‘Oh, this race doesn’t matter anymore,’” Kemp said outside a gun store here. “It matters … It’s not just about this December. It’s gonna be about November two years from now. It is about the future of our country.”

“Who do you want to fight for you in the United States Senate? Do you want a guy that represents our values like Herschel Walker? Or do you want somebody that stood with Joe Biden 96 percent of the time?” Kemp asked the crowd. “That is what the question is.”

Kemp committed his highly successful get-out-the-vote machine to Walker’s campaign. He is teaming up with Mitch McConnell’s super PAC. Kemp and McConnell hope to be able to rescue Walker and ensure victory in the run-off race.

Kemp and Walker did not appear on the stage together. During the general election campaign, Kemp was careful to throw his support to the entire Republican ballot and it worked, except for in Walker’s race. Smyrna is in Cobb County, one of the counties where Walker dramatically underperformed compared to Kemp. Cobb County is part of the metro Atlanta area, so heavy support for the Democrat candidates was expected. Kemp lost to Stacey Abrams in Cobb County by 5 points but Walker lost to Warnock by 17 points. Kemp received 20,000 more votes than Walker in the county.

In his remarks, Walker thanked Kemp and his family for their support, noting that “we’re in a tough fight.”

“We need somebody in Washington that’s going to represent you,” Walker said. “We need someone in Washington that’s gonna row the boat with Governor Kemp, and we got to go in the same direction.”

Kemp did not stand onstage while Walker spoke. They hugged as he introduced Walker onto the stage and again took the stage to shake hands and take photos at the end.

Walker supporters said that without a unified Republican Party, victory is not attainable. Some think that Walker didn’t garner enough votes to avoid a run-off because of Trump’s support of him. Trump’s history in Georgia since the 2020 presidential election is a troubled one. Voters don’t want the drama anymore.

Paula White, 57, and Emily Chapmon, 68, of Smyrna said they were optimistic that Kemp’s public show of support for Walker would help build up support from moderate and conservative voters unsure about the former football star.

“We need Kemp because he had such an advantage,” Chapmon said. “We need to be united among the Republican Party for one thing first. When that’s divided, you know, then we don’t have a prayer.”

Chapmon and White said the reason they felt Walker didn’t garner as much support as other GOP statewide candidates is because former president Donald Trump has vocally supported him. Trump encouraged Walker to run for the Senate, and he even gave him a shout-out during his announcement last week that he’ll be running for president again in 2024.

“But now that Kemp is on board and they seem to have one common goal, we think we can take Herschel Walker over [the finish line] now, too,” White said.

Kemp did indulge in some boasting about his own victory in the general election. “I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of our state, and we’re going to keep our state moving in the right direction because we stopped Stacey and saved Georgia.” He deserves to use his bragging rights. Kemp made Abrams a two-time loser in her quest to become governor. For that we can all thank him.