Democrats and Republicans running for competitive seats in the Georgia General Assembly are on almost equal footing when it comes to fundraising, according to an analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the latest campaign disclosure documents.
In 12 state House and Senate districts across Georgia where the presidential election four years ago was decided by a margin smaller than 10 percentage points, Democratic candidates have raised $2.5 million. Republican candidates have almost tied that, taking in $2.4 million.
The near match in fundraising shows how competitive both Republicans and Democrats see these legislative races, which are concentrated mostly in north Fulton and Gwinnett counties. Both parties are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in these districts to try to hold onto or flip seats in the General Assembly.
Statewide, Republicans have clobbered Democrats — $18.4 million to $8.2 million — but the GOP holds a 135-101 margin in the Legislature, so there are more incumbent Republicans raising money.
The fundraising totals, capturing donations from the beginning of July 2023 through Sept. 30 of this year, include contributions sent directly to candidates by individuals, committees, companies and other groups. They do not include money raised and spent by political action committees on behalf of the candidates.
In its analysis, the AJC looked at state legislative races where past elections predict a close race this time around. For example, in Georgia House District 105, which spans Buford and Dacula, Joe Biden won with just 50.1% of the vote. The incumbent legislator, Democrat Farooq Mughal, has raised more than $213,000. His opponent, Republican Sandy Donatucci, has raised about $94,000.
In state Senate District 48 in north Fulton County, Democratic state Senate candidate Ashwin Ramaswami has raised over $780,000, the most money of any candidate in these competitive races. That includes more than $58,000 of his own money and about $56,000 from committees, companies and other groups such as the Indian American Impact Fund and Vote Save American PAC. His opponent, Republican state Sen. Shawn Still, has raised about $175,000, with more than $102,000 from committees, companies and other groups.
Democrat Laura Murvartian, who is running in a competitive race against Republican state Rep. Scott Hilton, donated $27,600 to her campaign. Hilton donated $50,000 to his campaign on January 31. He leads in overall fundraising, however, with about $461,000 to roughly $256,000 for Murvartian.
The second-most-expensive race is between Susie Greenberg and state Rep. Deborah Silcox. Although Silcox is the Republican incumbent in the district, Democrat Greenberg has raised almost twice as much, with more than $636,000. Silcox has taken in about $320,000.
More than half of Silcox’s contributions come from committees, lobbying organizations and other groups, while just 6% of Greenberg’s contributions come from committees and other groups and none from lobbying organizations. Silcox collected about $164,000 from these groups, with $92,500 of that from lobbyist organizations. Greenberg collected 89% of her contributions from individuals, with the remaining 5% coming in unitemized small-dollar donations.
Some candidates in these tight races are being supported by the same groups and people.
In the dozen competitive races, the top political action committees contributing directly to the Democratic candidates are Climate Cabinet PAC, Democracy Engine, the Indian American Impact Fund, The Next 50 PAC and Civil Justice PAC.
House Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett and House Republican Majority Whip James Burchett have PACs associated with them that are top donors to Republican candidates in these competitive races. Other PACs donating to Republicans are those representing Realtors and dermatologists, as well as the Sports Betting Alliance.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story did not include $50,000 that Scott Hilton loaned to his campaign. The story and charts have been updated to reflect this. This loan did not appear in Georgia Ethics Commission contribution data, however it does appear in filing documents with the Commission. The AJC has reached out to the Commission for more information about the discrepancy in the data and written filings.
