With the vote well underway and both sides expecting extremely fierce disputes, record amounts of money continue to flow into the Georgia Senate’s twin run-off campaigns, including a large chunk of donor money in California, show the Commission’s new files Federal Election.
The two Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, have broken all fundraising records in the past two months. Its Republican opponents, Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively, have a financial advantage, however, thanks to outside Republican groups that can raise bulk sums mostly without the restrictions of federal campaign laws.
Much of this foreign money comes from donors whose identities remain undisclosed.
Warnock raised just over $ 103 million in the two months, from mid-October to mid-December, according to his documents. Ossoff raised even more – almost $ 107 million. Perdue raised $ 68 million and Loeffler $ 64 million.
All four candidates raised a large portion of their money outside the state, with California being the largest source.
All four topped the previous fundraising record for a Senate candidate – $ 57.9 million that Jaime Harrison, a Democrat, raised in the third quarter of this year in his campaign to oust Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina Of course, Harrison lost, a reminder that more money does not guarantee victory.
This did not cause donors to falter, and the money led to a flurry of television advertising that saturated Georgia’s radio waves.
This week alone, more than $ 87 million has been spent or set aside on television, radio and digital ads in the state, according to AdImpact, a company that monitors advertising spending. This is more than most Senate campaigns spend in an entire year. Altogether, about US $ 365 million has already been spent on advertising in the two races, with another US $ 110 million already reserved, according to AdImpact figures.
Senate control depends on the outcome of the two disputes and, with it, a large part of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda. Democrats won 48 seats in the Senate in November, including two independents who agree with them. If they win both seats in Georgia, the Senate will be divided equally and Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to break the tie, giving Democrats control.
That outlook generated an enormous amount of contributions, including large sums for four political committees controlled by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The four groups spent or set aside more than $ 132 million in advertising to support Republican candidates. These expenditures gave Republicans an advantage in advertising wars.
Although outside Democratic groups are spending less than their Republican counterparts, they 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 voting operations. Two groups controlled by Democratic Senate leader Charles E. Schumer of New York have spent or set aside about $ 30 million in advertising.
Ad volume may have passed the point of diminishing returns for candidates, but spending, especially money from outside groups, has brought unexpected windfall to television stations in Georgia – and Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. South too. Stations in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida, Dothan, Ala., Chattanooga, Tenn., And Greenville, SC, each reaching a corner of Georgia, saw significant publicity as campaigns attempt to reach all possible voters.
Federal law requires broadcasters to sell advertising time to candidates for the lowest price, but they can charge outside groups for whatever traffic they can afford, which means high premiums, especially in the Atlanta market, which covers majority of Georgia voters.
All four Georgia candidates ended the two-month reporting period with plenty of cash available – ranging from $ 16 million for Perdue to $ 23 million for Warnock – ensuring a spending rifle in the last days before the elections ended in 5 of January.
Each of the two Democrats raised about half of their money from donations of small dollars, less than $ 200 per person. The two Republicans obtained much more money from larger donors.
The sources of much of the external spending remain unknown and will continue to be hidden until long after the votes are counted. Due to the way the campaign funding rules are written, most external committees do not have to report their fundraising until the end of January, although they are required to report expenditures. Some of the outside groups have legal frameworks that allow them to keep donors under wraps forever.
Voter interest in the contest remained high. As of Thursday night, 2,070,987 people voted early, with great participation from both sides. Democrats were applauded for data showing that black voters accounted for a larger share of the vote so far than on equivalent points in the general election. A sharp drop in turnout for black voters hurt Democrats in previous state elections.
The polls in Georgia – one of the states where pre-election polls were accurate in the presidential race – showed that the Senate contests are a tie.