Democrats in Georgia’s runoff elections raise more than $200m in two months
Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both running for crucial US Senate seats in Georgia that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s new administration, have raised over $100m each in just two months.
The announcement of the recent record-breaking hauls – which considerably exceed that of their Republican opponents – comes with less than two weeks to go until the runoff races are decided in special elections on 5 January.
Ossoff, who runs a media production company and is running against the incumbent Republican senator David Perdue, raised over $106m from 15 October to 16 December, according to his campaign’s latest finance report.
Meanwhile, Warnock, who is pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and is running against incumbent Kelly Loeffler, raised just over $103m.
The Georgia races are the focus of intense national political interest as they will decide which party controls the Senate – currently held by the Republicans – and in turn the legislative power of President-elect Biden.
If the Republicans win one race, they will narrowly maintain power and be a huge break on a wide range of Biden’s actions, including being able to appoint who he wants to his cabinet.
But if the Democrats win both races, the Senate will be split 50-50, meaning Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris would decide tie-breaking votes, enabling the Democrats to deliver a more ambitious agenda.
The two seats went to runoffs after Perdue and Loeffler, one of the Senate’s wealthiest members, got less than 50% of the vote on election day in November.
The previous fundraising record was held by Democrat Jamie Harrison who raised $57m in a quarter in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina in November.
Warnock’s campaign manager Jerid Kurtz said: “We’re humbled by the grassroots support and generosity that continues to power Reverend Warnock’s campaign to represent all Georgians in the US Senate.”
Early voting in the state began on 14 December. As of Thursday, over 2m people – over a quarter of the state’s registered voters – had already cast ballots in the election, suggesting that overall turnout will be high.
In November, when President-elect Biden became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992, about 4m Georgians voted early.
FiveThirtyEight currently has Perdue and Warnock very narrowly ahead.
For the Democrats, both Presidentelect Biden and Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris have campaigned in the state. While for the Republicans, President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka have both made campaign stops.
The Democrats have tried to highlight the stock trades of their Republican opponents and their support of Trump, while the Republicans have focused on Warnock, repeatedly referring to him as a “radical liberal”.
A group of Black pastors wrote an open letter to Loeffler in which they said her rhetoric against Warnock was “a broader attack against the Black church and faith traditions for which we stand”.
Meanwhile, Trump has attacked Republicans in the state, calling Governor Brian Kemp a “clown” and a “fool” and branding Kemp and other prominent Georgia Republicans “Republicans in name only”.
Campaigning in Columbus, Georgia on Monday, Harris told supporters at a drive-in rally, “2020 ain’t over til January 5”. She added: “That’s when 2020 will be over. That’s when we’ll get this thing done.”
Michelle Obama is due to campaign virtually in the state in a drivein concert put on by her organisation When We All Vote to mobilise voters. Celebrate Georgia! on 3 January will also feature performances by Rick Ross, Jack Harlow, Pastor Troy and Monica.