ALTO, Ga. — Two months ago, Republican Gary Black gathered his closest friends and supporters at Jaemor Farms to make a last stand for his U.S. Senate campaign.
In between bites of barbecued pork, the agriculture commissioner admitted he wouldn't vote for Herschel Walker even if he won the GOP nod.
On Thursday it was Walker's turn to visit the famed farming empire, where he was joined by several of the same officials who had feted his Republican rival ahead of the May primary.
The visit was designed to show more than GOP unity. It was intended to highlight the state's top industry and show that the former football star is trying to shake off the controversies that have dogged his campaign to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
But it also underscored another significant trend now that Georgia's restrictive anti-abortion law is in effect. Top Republicans are eager to pivot the message back to the economy every chance possible, even if it means downplaying a landmark victory for abortion opponents.
That was on vivid display when Walker was asked whether he feared outrage from opponents of the new abortion limits could threaten Republican fortunes in November. He immediately tried to deemphasize the prospect of the anti-abortion law mobilizing Democrats.
"You're gonna bring up things that people are not concerned about. And that's what I said. People are concerned about gas, they're concerned about food. They're not even talking about that. That's not what I'm hearing about," he said.
Pressed on whether he was suggesting people weren't concerned about the abortion limits that took effect this week, Walker said he wasn't hearing from voters focused on the issue.
"I didn't say that. I said people here are concerned about gas, I think they're concerned about groceries. They're concerned about the baby formula ... Why are we not talking about those?"
Walker is no moderate when it comes to abortion restrictions. He supports a total ban on the procedure, even in cases of rape or incest. And this week he lamented that there was no federal legislation outlawing abortion.
Still, his reluctance to put abortion restrictions at the center of his campaign this week aligns him with other Georgia Republicans.
Gov. Brian Kemp made passing the nation's "toughest" abortion restrictions one of his most pressing priorities after he took office in 2019 and mocked "C-list celebrities" who threatened a boycott after he signed the measure into law.
After a federal appeals court Wednesday allowed the law to take effect, Kemp said he was "overjoyed." But he's since been far more eager to promote economic development deals and bash Democrat Stacey Abrams over her public safety policies.
Other Republicans have taken a muted victory lap — if any at all. Even the law's chief sponsor, state Rep. Ed Setzler, was reluctant to comment when pressed on whether he'd back new efforts to ensure the abortion limits are being enforced.
The reason for their restraint? Republicans want November to be a referendum on Joe Biden, whose plunging approval ratings threaten to weigh down Georgia Democrats like an anchor.
And with polls showing that Georgia voters view the economy and high inflation as their top concern, Republicans want to deprive Democrats of an opening to shift the political landscape in a state where even minor fluctuations in voting behavior can bring major changes.
As Republican strategist Jen Talaber Ryan put it: "A lot more Americans buy gas and groceries than get abortions."
Democrats say their rivals can't hide from the fallout. Abrams said the decision renders women "second-class citizens in Kemp's Georgia" as she released an internal poll that projected the new law could help motivate Democrats disenchanted by Biden's track record.
She and other Democrats are framing the anti-abortion ruling as an economic disaster for many women that deprives them of the freedom of deciding how to build or expand their families. Charlie Bailey, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, predicted a backlash that would manifest into a surge at the polls.
"This is a culmination of 20 years of right-wing leadership in the state that attacks the ability of women to make their own decisions about their bodies," he said. "It was a sad day in Georgia but I'm ready to fight back."
