Former Dallas Cowboys running back and current Republican U.S. Senate nominee Herschel Walker owns a $3 million home in the Vaquero neighborhood of Westlake.
It’s a beautiful Tarrant County estate, but there’s a problem.
The NFL legend claimed a homestead exemption on the 7,370-square-foot home at 2210 King Fisher Drive last year and is slated to do so again this year, even though he’s registered to vote in Georgia, according to the Texas Tribune.
Texas homeowners are only permitted to claim a homestead exemption on their primary residence and may continue to claim the exemption if they don’t establish a principal residence elsewhere, according to the report.
Several media outlets have picked up the story this week, and it’s unclear whether Walker also owns a home in Georgia, but he is definitely registered to vote there, has voted there, and is running for elected office there.
The candidate, who’s been endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, hasn’t addressed the tax exemption matter publicly.
Walker faces Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in a highly-publicized runoff election to determine just how tightly Democrats will control the Senate for the next two years.
“This race is too important to sit on the sidelines,” Walker says on his campaign website, where a P.O. Box in Atlanta is listed as the headquarters for Team Herschel. “Georgians deserve better. America deserves better.”
Political Problem
The U.S. Constitution mandates that a potential senator inhabit the state in which he is elected, according to a CNN report. The same report also quotes Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, saying that residency requirements under state law are flexible, and Walker’s biggest problem could be political.
“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,” Kreis said in the CNN report. “It does call into question whether Walker’s change of residency was made in good faith.”
Walker bought the King Fisher Drive house in Keller ISD in 2011 and has claimed the homestead exemption since 2012, records show. He saved about $1,200 on last year’s tax bill because of the filing.
Tarrant County Homestead
The four-bedroom, four-bath home on King Fisher Drive has an estimated value of $4.8 million, according to Realtor.com, although it was appraised at $3 million.
It sits on 1.13 acres and has a four-car garage. Few additional property details are available for the off-market home.
