Some potential split-ticket voters are Republicans who can’t stomach voting for Walker, whose history of violent behavior, pattern of false claims and mystifying comments has threatened GOP chances to win a seat that could decide control of the evenly divided Senate.

“I love Herschel. I’m a University of Georgia alum and a longtime fan. But he’s not qualified to be a senator,” said Paul R. Phillips, who said Walker’s ties to Trump prove “he does not understand what is going on in this country.”

Others are Democratic voters who say they want to reward Kemp for rejecting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia or because they’re satisfied with his performance in his first term in office.

Deborah T. Hamm sees Kemp’s support for gun expansions as “ridiculous” and abhors the anti-abortion restrictions he signed into law in 2019. Otherwise, however, she said she has found “little fault” in his stances.

“I will split my vote,” she said. “I vote for whom I feel will best serve our state — even if some of the policies, in this case Kemp’s stance on abortion rights and guns, do not reflect my beliefs.”