Herschel Walker may be headed for a runoff in the state of Georgia but he'll receive tax breaks on his primary residence in the state of Texas, reports CNN.
According to public records, the GOP Senate hopeful is set to receive a homestead tax exemption in Texas for 2022, that will save him around $1,500. Because of the tax break, he may be in violation of both Texas tax rules and some Georgia rules “on establishing residency for the purpose of voting or running for office.”
In Texas, homeowner regulations state that you can only take the exemption on your “principal residence.”
After living in Texas for almost 20 years and voting inconsistently, Walker registered to vote in Georgia in 2021 in preparation for his Senate campaign.
Anthony Michael Kreis, who teaches law at Georgia State University noted that Georgia’s state laws about establishing residence to be eligible to run for office are flexible. Also, he said that Walker’s biggest issue could be that his public image will take more hits after several accusations surfaced that the former Heisman Trophy winner paid for abortions while campaigning on a Pro-Life platform.
"At the end of the day, this is more of a political problem than a legal one in all likelihood, … where Walker can be painted as a carpetbagger. It does call into question whether Walker’s change of residency was made in good faith,” Kreis said.
Walker is set to face Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff election in December because neither candidate earned more than 50% of the vote in November’s midterm election.
