Episode Introduction
Erick Erickson, the syndicated conservative radio host and longtime editor of RedState, joined Breaking Battlegrounds hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone eleven days after the November 8, 2022 midterm elections. The timing put the conversation in an unusual window. The national results were mostly settled, but Georgia’s U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker was headed to a December runoff. Donald Trump had just launched his 2024 presidential campaign.
Erickson is based in Macon and has hosted on Atlanta’s WSB since 2011. He brought a Georgia insider’s view to all three threads: what the midterm results said about both parties, how the runoff might play out, and what the cycle signaled for 2024. Arizona pollster George Khalaf of Data Orbital also joined the episode.
Quick Answer
In Breaking Battlegrounds Podcast 110, published November 19, 2022, radio host Erick Erickson joined Chuck Warren and Sam Stone to review the 2022 midterm results. They discussed what the outcome meant for Georgia’s December 6 Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, and for the 2024 presidential race. Arizona pollster George Khalaf of Data Orbital also appeared on the episode.
Episode Overview
Breaking Battlegrounds recorded this episode in the week after the 2022 midterms, when the political conversation was moving from Election Night results to what came next.
Erick Erickson’s segment looks back at the national results and forward to two contests: Georgia’s Senate runoff, which was still undecided, and the 2024 presidential election. Erickson brought several vantage points to the conversation. He is a Georgia-based broadcaster, a former elected official in Macon, and a former election lawyer who worked on campaigns at every level.
George Khalaf, president of the Arizona polling firm Data Orbital, joined in the episode’s second segment. His firm polls Arizona, one of 2022’s most closely watched battleground states.
The full episode runs just over an hour.
About Erick Erickson
Erick Erickson is a conservative radio host, writer and political commentator based in Macon, Georgia. A KPEL News profile describes him as a native of Jackson, Louisiana, who has long hosted on 95.5 WSB and is syndicated by the Compass Media Network.
Before radio, Erickson practiced law in Macon for six years. His work covered corporate law, estates and elections, and he served as a volunteer attorney for President George W. Bush’s campaigns. He left his practice in 2005 to run RedState. He served as RedState’s editor-in-chief from the site’s start until leaving in 2015. He was elected to the Macon City Council in 2007, and CNN hired him as a political contributor in 2009. He started his WSB radio show on January 11, 2011.
His career also includes fill-in hosting for Rush Limbaugh and Ben Shapiro, and contributor roles at both Fox News and CNN. He founded The Gathering, an annual conservative conference. According to Barrett Media, he launched it in 2009, and the 2024 event drew close to 1,000 attendees.
Current role (verified 2026): Cox Media Group Atlanta renewed his contract to host weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. ET on WSB-AM and WSBB-FM. Barrett Media reported in January 2026 that his affiliate list nearly doubled during 2025.
Previous Breaking Battlegrounds appearance: Erickson was the guest on Podcast 1, the show’s first episode, which makes Podcast 110 a return visit.
About George Khalaf
At the time of this episode, George Khalaf was President of Data Orbital, a survey research and data visualization firm, and Managing Partner of The Resolute Group, a Phoenix-based political consulting firm. He led The Resolute Group’s effort to keep the Arizona Legislature in Republican control and advises conservative candidates and organizations nationally.
Khalaf was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Arizona State University. He is also involved in efforts to advance democracy and prosperity in Lebanon. He had appeared on Breaking Battlegrounds a few months earlier, in Podcast 90, joining fellow pollster Mike Noble to give final predictions before Arizona’s primary.
Titles reflect November 2022. Confirm his current roles before publishing.
Key Topics Discussed
- The results of the November 8, 2022 midterm elections
- Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker
- What the midterms signaled for the 2024 presidential election
- Erick Erickson’s path from election lawyer to blogger to talk radio host
- Arizona polling and politics with George Khalaf
Reading the 2022 Midterm Results
The episode was published the Saturday after the midterms, and Erickson’s segment opens with a look at the previous week’s results. Republicans entered the cycle expecting large gains. They won a narrow House majority but did not take the Senate.
Senate control was settled before Georgia voted again. In Pennsylvania, Democrats flipped a Republican-held seat, preserving their narrow Senate edge regardless of how Georgia turned out. That changed the stakes of the Georgia race. In 2021, the Georgia runoffs had decided which party controlled the Senate. In 2022, the runoff would decide whether Democrats held a 50-50 Senate or an outright majority.
Why Georgia Went to a Runoff
Georgia law requires a candidate to win a majority of the vote to avoid a runoff. In the November 8 general election, Warnock received 49.4% to Walker’s 48.5%, while Libertarian Chase Oliver took 2.1%. Neither leading candidate cleared 50 percent, so the race went to a second round.
The runoff timeline was also new. Because of Senate Bill 202, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed, the 2022 runoffs were held on December 6 instead of January 5, cutting the gap after a general election from nine weeks to 28 days. When Erickson joined the show, there were about two and a half weeks left before Election Day.
As a Georgia host who had covered the state’s 2020 and 2021 Senate contests, Erickson was positioned to explain the runoff dynamics to a national audience.
What happened next (after this episode aired): On December 6, 2022, Warnock won the runoff with 51.4 percent of the vote to Walker’s 48.6 percent, giving Democrats a 51-49 Senate majority. Georgia set a turnout record for a midterm runoff, with about 3.5 million votes cast.
The Early Shape of the 2024 Race
The episode’s third thread was 2024. Donald Trump had announced his presidential campaign on November 15, 2022, four days before the episode was published. Republicans were already debating how the midterm results should shape the party’s direction. Some worried about the timing. NBC’s Meet the Press panel discussed GOP concern that Trump could drive away Georgia runoff voters after several of his endorsed candidates underperformed in the midterms.
From Courtroom to Microphone: Erickson’s Unlikely Path
Part of the episode covers how Erickson got into political media. A law partner told him politics was his real calling. He left his practice two weeks before his first child was born to run RedState full time. His radio career began as a fill-in host in Macon, where his first pay was an expired Outback Steakhouse gift certificate. He took over a WSB slot that opened when Herman Cain ran for president, and he started that show during a 2011 ice storm that had him sleeping on his office floor.
George Khalaf on the Data Behind the Results
Data Orbital polled Arizona during a cycle in which the state’s Senate, governor and secretary of state races drew national attention. Write this section from what Khalaf actually said, not from general Arizona coverage.
Key Takeaways From the Conversation
- Breaking Battlegrounds recorded this episode in a narrow window: after the 2022 midterm results were known, but before Georgia’s December 6 Senate runoff decided the final Senate margin.
- Georgia’s 2022 runoff came only four weeks after the general election because of the state’s 2021 election law changes. That compressed timeline shaped both campaigns.
- Erick Erickson brought a Georgia-based, conservative-media view, informed by his background as an election lawyer, campaign consultant and former Macon city councilman.
Listen to the Episode
- Substack (episode page): https://breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/p/erick-erickson-on-the-midterms-georgias
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingBattlegrounds
Related Breaking Battlegrounds Episodes
Erickson’s first appearance was also the show’s first episode: Podcast 1 with Erick Erickson. George Khalaf previously joined Mike Noble for Podcast 90: George Khalaf and Mike Noble on Arizona Primary Predictions, recorded days before Arizona’s 2022 primary. For more of the show’s 2022 Arizona coverage, see Mike Noble on the Future of Arizona Politics, Andy Gould and Stephen Richer on Arizona’s Primary Election, and the Arizona primary interview series. You can learn more about hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Erick Erickson?
Erick Erickson is a conservative radio host and commentator based in Macon, Georgia. He hosts a weekday afternoon show on Atlanta’s WSB that is nationally syndicated by Compass Media Networks. He was RedState’s editor-in-chief until 2015 and has been a political contributor for CNN and Fox News. Before entering media, he practiced election and corporate law in Macon.
What did Erick Erickson discuss on Breaking Battlegrounds Podcast 110?
In Podcast 110, published November 19, 2022, Erickson joined Chuck Warren and Sam Stone to review the 2022 midterm results. He also discussed what they could mean for Georgia’s December 6 Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, and for the 2024 presidential election. He also talked about his path from law to blogging to radio.
Why was there a runoff in Georgia’s 2022 Senate race?
Georgia requires a majority to win. In the November 8, 2022 election, Warnock received 49.4 percent, Walker 48.5 percent and Libertarian Chase Oliver 2.1 percent. With no candidate above 50 percent, the top two advanced to a December 6 runoff. Warnock won that runoff with about 51.4 percent of the vote.
Has Erick Erickson appeared on Breaking Battlegrounds before?
Yes. Erickson was the guest on Podcast 1, the first episode of Breaking Battlegrounds. Podcast 110, recorded after the 2022 midterms, was a return appearance focused on the election results, Georgia’s Senate runoff and the early 2024 presidential race.
Who is George Khalaf?
George Khalaf is an Arizona pollster and political strategist. At the time of this episode, he was President of Data Orbital, a survey research firm, and Managing Partner of The Resolute Group. He appeared on Podcast 110 and earlier on Podcast 90, where he and Mike Noble previewed Arizona’s 2022 primary.
Where can I listen to the Erick Erickson episode?
You can listen to Podcast 110 on the Breaking Battlegrounds Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Links are in the Listen to the Episode section of this page. The full episode runs about one hour and two minutes.
Conclusion
Podcast 110 records a specific moment: the week when Republicans were working out why the 2022 midterms fell short of expectations, Georgia was heading into a four-week Senate runoff, and the 2024 race had just begun with Trump’s announcement. Erick Erickson brought a Georgia vantage point to all three questions, and George Khalaf added a pollster’s view from Arizona. Four years later, with the 2026 midterms approaching, the episode works as a benchmark for comparing how the 2022 results were read at the time with how things turned out.
Related Reads
- Podcast 1: Erick Erickson
- Podcast 90: George Khalaf and Mike Noble on Arizona Primary Predictions
- Mike Noble on the Future of Arizona Politics
- Arizona Primary Interviews
Sources
- Breaking Battlegrounds Substack, episode post (November 19, 2022): https://breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/p/erick-erickson-on-the-midterms-georgias
- Ballotpedia News, “Warnock (D) defeats Walker (R) in the runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia” (December 7, 2022)
- The Citizen, Georgia runoff results per the Georgia Secretary of State (December 2022)
- Radio Online, “Erick Erickson Extends Contract with WSB Atlanta”
- KPEL News, profile of Erick Erickson’s syndicated show
- Barrett Media, coverage of Erick Erickson (2025 and January 2026)
- Georgia Secretary of State, official 2022 election results: https://sos.ga.gov (recommended primary source to add)
Editorial Note: This article is intended for informational and analytical purposes. Political developments, policies, polling, and public statements can change over time. Readers should consult primary sources and official government information for the latest details.
