Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is teaming up with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to help Republican candidate Herschel Walker win the run-off race against Democrat incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock. The path to the Senate majority may run through Georgia. It is important that Walker wins the run-off. It’s going to be an expensive race.

During the general election, the Senate race in Georgia was one of the most expensive races in the country. A staggering $262 million was spent on one Senate seat. Spending is predicted to be at the same levels as the historic run-offs in Georgia two years ago. Party unity and cooperation with the Walker campaign is crucial for victory.

Governor Kemp’s get-out-the-vote machine is partnering with McConnell’s super PAC.

Kemp is loaning his get-out-the-vote machine to the Senate GOP’s voter turnout efforts, giving the party entrée to a political team that is increasingly viewed as one of the GOP’s most formidable state operations. The governor ran a gauntlet this year, prevailing over a Donald Trump-backed primary opponent by a lopsided margin before comfortably defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams in the general election.

Under an agreement that was finalized Thursday, Kemp will transfer his door-knocking, data analytics, phone-banking and micro-targeting program to the Senate Leadership Fund, the McConnell-aligned super PAC that is bolstering Walker. The super PAC will provide the funding for the $2 million-plus effort, which will be run by Kemp’s senior advisers and staffed by more than 100 field workers.

It’s the first time that Senate Leadership Fund, which spent more than $230 million on advertising this election cycle, has ever funded a get-out-the-vote effort on the ground. But the party has reason to invest heavily in turnout operations in Georgia: Just two years ago, Republicans lost the Senate majority after falling in a pair of runoffs in the state, in part because some GOP-aligned voters decided not to vote.

This is good news. I am not one who criticizes Mitch McConnell, though many Republicans are ready for a change in Republican leadership in the Senate. I think that McConnell’s experience and knowledge of how the Senate works, how he maneuvers through the rules and processes of the Senate, are invaluable. For example, thanks to him, Merrick Garland is not sitting on the Supreme Court. His super PAC’s money will play a major role in Walker’s campaign.

Walker finished almost a point behind Warnock in the general election. That shouldn’t have happened. Governor Kemp is popular in Georgia and easily defeated Stacey Abrams in his bid for re-election. However, many Georgia voters split their tickets and voted for the Democrat incumbent senator after voting for the Republican governor. It makes no sense. Warnock is a classic example of a progressive who votes for the radical Biden agenda over 96% of the time in the Senate. In contrast, Kamp is a conservative Republican who bucked federal mandates and led Georgia during the pandemic as he saw fit to do. He kept businesses and schools open when other states were closed up with lockdowns. He pushed election integrity reform in the Georgia Legislature which was needed after some of the rules-bending done by Democrats as they took advantage of the pandemic.

McConnell reached out to Kemp on Wednesday when it became clear that a run-off would be necessary between Walker and Warnock. Two days of discussions followed as the details were worked out. McConnell told Kemp he wanted his help. Kemp agreed and advisers for both men came up with a blueprint.

“Gov. Kemp wrote the playbook for how to win big in Georgia, and we are thrilled to partner with his top-notch team to elect Herschel Walker to the Senate,” said Steven Law, the Senate Leadership Fund president. “As we learned in 2020, Republican turnout is essential for victory in a runoff election, and we are leaving no stone unturned – preparing a ground assault to partner with the coming air war.”

This is the first time the Senate Leadership Fund will run a canvassing operation. It is also the first time the PAC has partnered with a sitting governor’s political operation. It’s past time for Republicans to get savvy about get-out-the-vote operations because the Democrats sure have. McConnell’s actions are a good indication that Republican leadership in Washington may be waking up to the fact that it’s time to think outside the box and forge new partnerships in order to see election victories. The same old, same old doesn’t guarantee success anymore.

“Gov. Kemp was able to build the best ground game operation in the entire country this cycle,” Saparow said in a statement. “Our team is ready to work with SLF and Leader McConnell to make sure Herschel Walker is the next senator from Georgia and Republicans regain the majority in the Senate.”

Hollywood is ready to make the Georgia run-off race an expensive one with their contributions to Warnock. Warnock is supported by Hollywood liberal A-listers like Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, J.J. Abrams and Norman Lear. Warnock got more money from individual donors in California than from Georgia. Let that sink in.

“Everyone will put money into Georgia,” veteran Democratic political consultant Rick Taylor told TheWrap.

While Warnock has a big lead in out-of-state fundraising, Taylor said the GOP will back Walker strongly: “We’ll see him continuing to get whatever money he needs.”

It’s all hands on deck for Walker at this point. Republican senators are planning to campaign with Walker in Georgia. Ted Cruz was on the campaign trail with him on Thursday. Others will follow to draw big crowds and go into areas Walker didn’t get to before Election Day.