HoliDaze: The Georgia Gambit, Con't

New filings by both Georgia Democratic candidates for Senate reveal that they are well-positioned for the final stretch of the race, out-raising both Republicans by tens of millions of dollars.

The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the Democratic challengers in the Senate runoffs in Georgia, have each raised more than $100 million since October — enormous sums that surpassed their Republican opponents by a significant margin and underscored Democrats’ confidence after recent gains the party has made in the state and their hopes that they might capture the Senate.

The contests have drawn a surge of attention and investment from outside of Georgia, given the stakes, and the campaigning has only intensified in the final weeks before the runoff, which is scheduled for Jan. 5.

Senator David Perdue, one of the Republican incumbents, raised $68 million in the period between Oct. 15 and Dec. 16, according to reports to the Federal Election Commission made public on Thursday. Senator Kelly Loeffler, the other Republican, raised close to $64 million during that period.

Mr. Ossoff, who is running against Mr. Perdue, became the best-funded Senate candidate in history after pulling in $106.7 million, according to the filings, and Mr. Warnock, who is challenging Ms. Loeffler, has raised $103.3 million.

The Democrats’ haul was powered in large part by a flurry of smaller donations collected from across the country, filings show, with nearly half of the funds coming from people who donated less than $200.

For Mr. Perdue and Ms. Loeffler, the smaller donations accounted for less than 30 percent of what they raised.

 

Having said this, the hard lessons of Jaime Harrison, Sara Gideon, and Amy McGrath stand: Democrats out-raised their Republican incumbent opponents and were destroyed anyway. They lost by double digits in all three cases,with tens of millions of campaign money left on the table.

 

Still, Ossoff and Warnock say they are actually spending the money, and will need more to counter GOP superPacs airdropping tens of millions into the state in the final week.

Eight days out from Election Day in Georgia's crucial Senate runoff races, Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are "sounding the alarm" about their ability to keep pace with GOP spending, calling for a "significant increase" in grassroots donations to prevent running out of money.

"To win this election in 8 days, we need to continue our historic efforts to turn out every single voter — but we won't be able to do that if our fundraising revenue continues to fall," Warnock campaign manager Jerid Kurtz and Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster wrote in a memo obtained by NBC News.

According to financial disclosure forms, Warnock and Ossoff both raised more than $100 million over the past two months, outraising their Republican opponents, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, by a significant margin. But GOP outside groups are outspending Democratic groups.

"That means our Republican counterparts don't have to spend as much of their precious resources on TV and can invest in the area that is most important at this stage: direct voter contact," the memo states.

I'd say that the polls are looking good, but at this point I no longer believe in state polls.

They are worthless.

If you live in Georgia, vote.