Record cash in Georgia races
Democratic Senate hopefuls set new records, but GOP incumbents have edge in outside spending.
Democratic Senate hopefuls set fundraising records with California pitching in, but GOP incumbents retain edge.
WASHINGTON — With early voting well underway and both sides expecting extremely close races, record amounts of money continue to pour into Georgia’s twin Senate runoff campaigns, including a large chunk of cash from donors in California, new Federal Election Commission filings show.
The two Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, shattered all- time fundraising records over the last two months. Their Republican opponents, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeff ler, respectively, hold a f inancial edge, however, due to outside Republican groups that can raise massive sums mostly unconstrained by federal campaign laws.
Much of that outside money comes from donors whose identities remain undisclosed.
Warnock brought in just over $ 103 million in the two months from mid- October to mid- December, according to his f iling. Ossoff raised even more — almost $ 107 million. Perdue raised $ 68 million and Loeff ler, $ 64 million.
All four candidates have received much of their money from out of state, with California donors contributing the most.
All four surpassed the previous fundraising record for a Senate candidate — the $ 57.9million that Jaime Harrison, a Democrat, raised in the third quarter this year in his campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Harrison lost anyway — a reminder that more money provides no guarantee of victory.
But that has not caused donors to waver, and the cash has led to a f lood of television advertising saturat
ing Georgia’s airwaves.
This week alone, more than $ 87 million has been spent or booked in TV, radio and digital ads in the state, according to AdImpact, a f irm that tracks ad spending. That’s more than most Senate campaigns spend in an entire year. All told, some $ 365 million already has been spent for advertising in the two races, with an additional $ 110 million already booked, AdImpact’s f igures show.
Control of the Senate rides on the outcome of the two races, and with it a large part of President- elect Joe Biden’s agenda. Democrats in November won enough Senate seats to give them a total of 48, including two independents who caucus with them. If they win the
two Georgia seats, the Senate will be evenly divided, and as vice president, Kamala Harris will be able to vote to break any ties in the Democrats’ favor.
That prospect has driven the huge outpouring of contributions, including large sums to four political committees controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R- Ky.). The groups have spent or booked more than $ 132 million in advertising in support of the GOP candidates, giving them an advantage in the ad wars.
Although outside Democratic groups are spending less than their Republican counterparts, they have still raised considerable sums. Fair Fight, founded by Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, reported raising $ 22 million, with most of it being spent on voter turnout operations.
Two groups controlled by Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York have spent or booked roughly $ 30 million in advertising.
The volume of ads may have long passed the point of diminishing returns for the candidates, but the spending, especially the money from outside groups, has provided a windfall to television stations in Georgia — and Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina too. Stations in
Gainesville and Tallahassee, Fla.; Dothan, Ala.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Greenville, S. C., that serve parts of Georgia have all seen significant advertising as the campaigns try to reach every possible voter.
Federal law requires stations to sell ad time to candidates at their lowest rate, but outside groups can be charged whatever the traffic will bear. That has meant hefty premiums, especially in the Atlanta market, which covers the majority of Georgia’s voters.
All four Georgia candidates ended the two- month reporting period with plenty of cash on hand — ranging from $ 16 million for Perdue to $ 23 million for Warnock — guaranteeing a fusillade of spending in the f inal days before the Jan. 5 election.
The two Democrats each raised about half of their money from donations of less than $ 200 per person. The two Republicans got much more of their money from larger donors.
The sources of much of the outside spending remain unknown and will continue to be shrouded until long after the vote count. Because of the way campaign finance rules are written, most outside committees don’t have to report their fundraising until the end of January, although they are required to report spending. Some of the outside groups have legal structures that allow them to keep donors secret forever.
Voter interest in the contest has continued to run high. As of Thursday night, 2,070,987 people had voted early, with large turnout on both sides.
Democrats have been cheered by data showing that Black voters have made up a larger share of the vote than at comparable points in the general election. A sharp drop- off in turnout among Black voters has hurt Democrats in the state’s previous runoffs.
Polls in Georgia — one of the states where preelection surveys proved accurate in the presidential contest — have shown a dead heat in the Senate runoffs.