Donations

months even though they’ve started to lock down support from important Democratic constituencies.

Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, who has captured endorsements from well-known Democrats, raised about $380,000 from July to September — down about $140,000 from her haul during the opening months of her campaign.

Sarah Riggs Amico lagged, too, collecting $310,000 in her first report while loaning her campaign an additional $400,000. Her strategy of courting unions, long a central player in Democratic politics, gained some traction as she rolled out endorsements from two labor groups.

Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry took in just $90,000 as he acknowledged that the party’s major donors were divided over whom to support but are largely united in spurning him — at least for now.

“I’m definitely not the establishment-money candidate,” Terry said. “There’s a lot of thinking with your head and not your heart with these donors. The traditional contributors aren’t supporting me, but I’m bringing in a lot of new people.”

The race to challenge Perdue, a former Fortune 500 chief executive who has $6.3 million in his campaign account, is not the only con- test that has divided Dem- ocrats.

Four Democratic candidates have divvied up donors in the 7th Congres- sional District, the site last year of the nation’s tightest U.S. House race. The district, which covers parts of Forsyth and Gwinnett coun- ties, became a top target for national Democrats in 2020 after Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, announced he was retir- ing from Congress.

Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux, who lost to Woodall in 2018 by fewer than 500 votes, has raised more than $280,000 with the help of former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and a slate of legislative supporters.

State Sen. Zahra Karinshak, is close with about $200,000 in donations, including contributions from former Gov. Roy Barnes, ex-state Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former U.S. Rep. Buddy Darden.

Two other candidates — activist Nabilah Islam and state Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero — have carved up other contributions from grassroots donors and party operatives.

A familiar dilemma

It’s tricky terrain for Democrats, who have managed to avoid some bitter primary battles in recent elections.

Jason Carter was the only Democrat in the 2014 race for governor, and Michelle Nunn was the party’s pick for the U.S. Senate the same year. In 2016, Democrats settled on millionaire Jim Barksdale as a long-shot challenger to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, and Abrams entered the 2018 gubernatorial race with an edge.

It also presents a silver lining to candidates by forcing them to expand their base and rely on a new pool of supporters, said Joel Alvarado, a Democratic consultant. Several candidates have boasted about their high proportions of small-dollar donations and their out-of-state reach.

“This gives everyday hardworking Americans a chance to contribute, be engaged and ensure their concerns are heard,” he said. “We need to democratize campaign contributions where the few do not dictate what is best for the many.”

Republicans face the same dilemma, though for them it’s a more familiar one. Five viable GOP candidates ran for governor last year, and there would surely be a crowded race for Isakson’s seat if Gov. Brian Kemp wasn’t set to soon appoint someone to the post. About 500 people have already applied to the governor’s office for the job.

The race for Woodall’s seat has attracted a half-dozen Republicans scrapping for the same donor base, and the leading candidates — former Home Depot executive Lynne Homrich, physician Rich McCormick and state Sen. Renee Unterman — all reported six-figure takes.

In the neighboring 6th Congressional District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath has built a dominant fundraising advantage, the two top Republicans are locked in a fundraising duel. Former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel has outraised state Sen. Brandon Beach, though neither can approach McBath’s cache of $1.3 million.

‘If only $ votes’

The fundraising totals don’t translate to votes or a show of support in 2020. But they serve as an indicator of which candidates are locking up donors and attention in jumbled fields. And they’re an opportunity for campaigns to demonstrate they can mount a credible 2020 campaign.

It explains why Tomlinson and her supporters raced to downplay expectations ahead of this quarter’s deadline. Her campaign manager, Kendra Cotton, invoked Ossoff’s defeat in 2017 as she dismissed his fundraising totals on social media.

“If only $ votes,” she wrote on Twitter, then referred to McBath’s 2018 victory for the same seat “with not even a quarter of the resources.”

Ossoff has ignored the broadside, and on Tuesday announced his own slate of new supporters — a group of 20 black elected officials that included several prominent state lawmakers and county officials.

As the financial data emerged, Democrats grumbled that fundraising has sputtered partly because the prospect of a second U.S. Senate campaign, on top of a presidential contest, has complicated things. Some drew a comparison with the White House race, which has some donors and activists still refusing to pick sides.

“It’s a disruptive election year. There’s a lot of money still sitting on the sidelines,” Terry said.