With one month to go, Dems outraise GOP in top races
Candidates flush with cash in home stretch
Democrats Stacey Abrams and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock have once again outraised their Republican rivals in the two biggest races on the ballot.
Abrams, who is waging a rematch with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, raised more than $36 million in the last three months and enters October with $11 million in the bank.
Kemp raised $29 million between July and September — a record haul for a Republican candidate for governor of Georgia. While he was outraised by Abrams, he has $15 million on hand — a heftier bank account than the Democrat heading into November.
With just one month to go until election day, both rivals have already raised more cash for this year’s race than they did in during the entire 2018 campaign. The surge in fundraising can be attributed to a new fundraising loophole that allows candidates to jointly raise money through leadership committees separate from their campaigns.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican candidate Herschel Walker — amid a series of unflattering headlines — announced that his campaign raised $12 million in the last three months. The haul cements Walker’s status as the top fundraiser of any Republican Senate candidate in the nation.
But Sen. Warnock raised about twice as much over the same period, bringing in $26 million in the last three months. He has $13.7 million on hand to Walker’s $7 million.
The huge fundraising hauls for Walker and Warnock indicate that both parties and their donors understand the importance of the Georgia Senate contest, which could very well determine who controls Congress come January.
Donors have also started focusing on down-ballot races. In the race for Attorney General, Republican incumbent Chris Carr and Democratic State Sen. Jen Jordan both raised roughly $1 million between July and September.
Democratic State Rep. Bee Nguyen, who is running for Secretary of State, raised around $1 million and has $1.2 million in the bank. Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger had not filed an updated financial disclosure as of Friday evening.
In the open race for Lieutenant Governor, Republican State Sen. Burt Jones raised nearly $1.9 million in the last three months — far outpacing Democratic candidate Charlie Bailey, who took in more than $700,000 during the same timeframe.
DATES TO REMEMBER
October 11: Deadline to register to vote
October 17: Early in-person voting begins
October 22: First mandatory Saturday voting
October 28: Last day to request absentee ballot
October 29: Second mandatory Saturday voting
Pulling for Stacey!!!