Democrats Ossoff and Warnock each raise more than $ 100 million for the second round of the Georgia Senate

Warnock reported total revenues of more than $ 103 million between October 15 and December 16, far exceeding the nearly $ 64 million raised by Senator Kelly Loeffler, the Republican incumbent he is trying to oust. Ossoff, meanwhile, raised even more: $ 106.8 million, according to his filing on Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, an amount that breaks record fund-raising records in a year when Democratic candidates had already raised amazing amounts of energized online contributors.

Ossoff’s aides say his campaign has attracted more than 1.4 million donors in two months.

The frantic fundraising highlights the high risk of the divided senate. If Ossoff and Warnock win both seats in the second round of January 5, their party will control the chamber, as vice president-elect Kamala Harris may break relations in the Senate.

And new data shows that television, radio and digital advertising to influence the runoff has exceeded half a billion dollars since election day – putting disputes on track to become two of the most expensive Senate races in US history. .

Ossoff led spending on more than $ 100 million in ad purchases and future bookings, according to data from Kantar’s Campaign Media Analysis Group. Warnock bought almost $ 88 million in advertising. Both Democratic candidates have exceeded Loeffler and Perdue’s advertising spending, according to Kantar.

But outside Republican groups, funded by some of the party’s biggest donors, have helped to regain ground in the advertising war. Three super PACs associated with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell – American Crossroads, the Senate Leadership Fund and the recently launched Peachtree PAC – bought more than $ 137 million in advertising to influence disputes.

Warnock and Loeffler each had more than $ 20 million in cash available for the final sprint for the January 5 runoff, Thursday’s reports show. Loeffler took advantage of his personal fortune to help finance the race. Warnock’s reliance on small donors – more than half of his contributions from individuals came in amounts of $ 200 or less – provides him with a potential donor pool to obtain more donations before reaching contribution limits.

Ossoff had about $ 17.5 million remaining in cash reserves; Lose, $ 16 million.

Almost half of Ossoff’s individual contributions came in small sums of $ 200 or less, compared with about a little less than a third of Perdue’s.

A Democratic organization focused on the ground game also reported raising large sums.

The new records show that Fair Fight, a super PAC aligned with former Georgia government candidate Stacey Abrams, raised more than $ 22 million between November 24 and December 16 and sent $ 11 million for a series from other groups – including the Black PAC, which is working to boost the participation of African American voters in the state.

Fair Fight’s major donors include labor groups such as the National Education Association and the United Auto Workers Union, which donated $ 1 million each. The campaign by Maine Democrat Sara Gideon, who ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate this year, also contributed $ 75,000 of the campaign’s remaining money to the group.

Another prominent donor to Fair Fight: actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who donated $ 5,000 earlier this month.

This story has been updated with additional reports.

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