Herschel Walker files to run for U.S. Senate seat in Georgia

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Former football star Herschel Walker filed paperwork to run to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

The 59-year-old Walker, who played football for the University of Georgia and 12 seasons in the NFL, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission establishing his candidacy shortly after registering to vote in Georgia.

He is expected to officially announce his candidacy Wednesday in the multi-candidate Republican primary to earn the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

In addition to his profile as a professional athlete and local college star, Walker also received a written endorsement from former President Donald Trump earlier this year.

"He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs and in the NFL," Trump wrote. "He is also a GREAT parson. Run Herschel, run!"

The National Republican Senatorial Committee welcomed Walker's candidacy in a statement Tuesday.

"Herschel Walker is a great American and a great Republican," the group said. "If he runs, he will join a strong group of Republican candidates and be a formidable candidate. Georgia Republicans will have a spirited primary. We're confident that whoever wins the primary will be well-positioned to beat Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders' favorite Democrat, Raphael Warnock."

The field of Republicans who have already filed to join the race includes Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, military veteran Kelvin King and Latham Sandler, a former Navy SEAL and Trump administration official.

If Walker were to emerge from the primary contest he would face Warnock, who defeated incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a special election earlier this year to become the first Black U.S. senator in Georgia history, setting up a rare face-off between two Black major-party candidates.

Walker disclosed violent tendencies including playing Russian roulette and pointing a gun at his own head at his kitchen table in 1991 as well as a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder in his 2008 book Breaking Free.

Since then reports have detailed violent threats he made against ex-wife Cindy Grossman in 2005 that prompted a judge to grant her a protective order.

Election officials have also opened an investigation into Walker's current wife, Julie Blanchard, for voting in Georgia's 2020 elections despite her residency appearing to be in Texas.