Millions flow to top Georgia campaigns and candidates down the ballot as midterms near

Caption

Democrat Stacey Abrams (right) continues to edge out incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the fundraising game, although Kemp has narrowed the gap in the past couple months.

Credit: Ross Williams / Georgia Recorder

Candidates for statewide office just reported their latest fundraising haul as they enter the homestretch of Georgia’s midterm election.

Here’s a quick-and-dirty rundown on the size of these candidates’ war chests in Georgia’s marquee races. Early voting starts next Monday. 

U.S. Senate 

In the tumultuous Senate contest, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is winning the money race. Warnock had $13.7 million left on hand after raising an eye-popping $26.3 million in two months. Republican Herschel Walker raised $12 million and has $7 million available to spend.

Governor’s race

Democrat Stacey Abrams continues to edge out incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the fundraising game, although Kemp has narrowed the gap in the last couple months.

Abrams reported raising $15.4 million in the last two-month period, bringing her total cash raised up to $45.9 million. That’s on top of what her leadership committee raised this period: $20.8 million. All told, that committee has so far given her candidacy a $39.3 million boost.

She reported having $11.2 million cash on hand between the two funds as the election heats up. 

Kemp, who has had a slight lead over Abrams in recent polling, reported raising $9.4 million, bringing his total raised up to $38.9 million. His leadership committee additionally raised $21.4 million, bringing the committee’s tally up to $29 million.

He reported having more cash on hand than Abrams with $15.4 million unspent in both funds.

Attorney general

Republican incumbent Attorney General Chris Carr is trying to fend off a Democratic challenger, state Sen. Jen Jordan.

Carr reported pulling in about $1.1 million, bringing his tally up to $4.3 million He has $1.1 million cash on hand.

Jordan raised a total of $3.1 million, with $1 million raised during the last two months. She has $1.4 million available, and her campaign announced a seven-figure ad campaign Monday as Jordan released her first TV ad for the general election.

Lieutenant governor

Republican state Sen. Burt Jones and Democrat Charlie Bailey are in a tight race to replace Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who is not seeking a second term presiding over the state Senate.

Jones reported raising about $1.9 million, bringing his total up to $8.6 million. He has about $1.9 million left unspent.

Bailey, a former prosecutor, raised about $708,000, bringing his total up to $1.8 million. He has $657,000 available.

Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger, the incumbent Republican secretary of state, is the only sitting GOP official with a comfortable lead over his Democratic challenger in the limited polling available.

Raffensperger reported taking in $852,000 in the last two months, bringing his total up to $2.8 million. He has about $416,000 left in his account.

State Rep. Bee Nguyen has been able to more than match Raffensperger in fundraising. The Democrat has raised a total of $3.2 million, with $1.1 million collected in the last two months. And notably, she has nearly $1.2 million unspent.