At the polls

Polls open at 8 a. m. in Hamilton County and close at 8 p. m. In Georgia, polls open at 7 a. m. and close at 7 p. m. See related story on what you need to do or bring to the polls to make your voting experience go more smoothly on

ATLANTA — Republicans have spent the past two years telling Georgians that top Democrats Stacey Abrams and Jon Ossoff are funded by Hollywood liberals, but big- money national groups have supplied the bulk of the state GOP’s funding in 2020.

About $ 20 million of the $ 27 million the Georgia Republican Party has raised during the 2020 election cycle — through last week — came from outside the state. The biggest donor this cycle has been the Republican National Committee, at $ 15.4 million, with an additional $3 million coming from President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Another Washington- based Republican political action committee has pumped about $2 million into legislative races, much of it in a bid to defeat its top national target, state House Minority Leader Bob Trammell, R-Luthersville.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, R- Blue Ridge, said his chamber’s PAC had to raise money locally, but even that group, which has collected about $ 3.4 million to help GOP House members, has gotten one-third of its money from out-of-state companies and groups with interest in legislation and contracts.

None of that is unusual in an expensive election year, with even more out-of-state money flowing into Georgia to buy ads hammering U.S. Sen. David Perdue and his opponent, Ossoff, in their closely contested race. National groups, business organizations and corporations have long helped fund races in Georgia.

But Republicans have increasingly accused Democrats of being funded by Hollywood liberals on TV and in mailings, all at the same time when highprofile GOP campaigns are getting millions from Washington- area committees and corporations from across the country.

State reports show the Georgia Democratic Party has raised about $ 8.5 million this election cycle, about one-third as much as the GOP. Of that, $5 million in contributions and in- kind donations, such as mailings, came from Fair Fight PAC, the political action committee for the voting rights group that Stacey Abrams started after she lost the 2018 gubernatorial election.

The group — which has raised $ 33 million — has also helped Democratic Party organizations in several other states and legislative candidates in Georgia.