(CNN)With one week to go before Georgia's Senate runoff, heavy hitters and big dollars from both national parties are pouring into the state for a race that will determine the balance of power in the Democratic-controlled Senate next year.
But the most sought-after stamp of approval belongs to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was comfortably reelected to a second term this month after defying a Donald Trump-backed primary challenge earlier in the year.
Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker has Kemp's endorsement and, in the final stretch, television commercials and a live, side-by-side appearance to show for it. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, though, has been busy telling Georgia voters that they don't have to choose between him and Kemp. The incumbent, who's running for a full six-year term, has run ads and hosted an event starring "crossover voters" -- or people who cast a ballot for the governor and who have said they plan to do the same for Warnock on December 6.
The candidates' appeals to Kemp supporters not only underscores the governor's popularity in Georgia, but the power of moderate swing voters expected to decide whether Warnock wins a full term or Walker unseats him. Republicans swept the races for statewide seats in Georgia earlier this month. Walker, meanwhile, was outpaced by Kemp in total votes by more than 200,000 -- which either signals he has room to grow his share or that he's already been written off by otherwise Republican-leaning voters.
Kemp...
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