Gov. Brian Kemp collected nearly $29 million over the latest fundraising period, amassing more campaign cash over a three-month period than he raised during his entire 2018 bid for Georgia’s top office.
Kemp’s campaign said Wednesday it will report roughly $15.4 million in the bank for the final stretch against Democrat Stacey Abrams, an elite fundraiser who has far outpaced her opponent in collecting cash since she entered the race last year.
Abrams hasn’t yet reported her latest financial disclosure, but she collected more than $22 million in a two-month span between May and June in her last filing. Both rivals have far surpassed their fundraising totals from four years ago, when they shattered state records.
With his latest financial figures, Kemp has joined the ranks of the nation’s top fundraisers – and signaled that he’s increasingly willing to look beyond Georgia for financial support. Among his out-of-state events was a September fundraiser hosted by GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
The first-term Republican raised about $8.9 million in campaign contributions to his main account between July 1 and Sept. 30, along with another $19.8 million through a leadership committee, a new financial vehicle created by Kemp’s allies that can accept unlimited donations.
The campaign also said it transferred $1.6 million from his main account to the leadership committee.
Ahead in the polls, Kemp has devoted increasing attention to raising cash to finance a grassroots apparatus that can compete with Abrams’ prized ground-game organization.
“We literally have fundraisers close to six-and-a-half days a week on average, all the way through the election,” Kemp said in an interview. “And we just have to have that funding to be able to operate everything we need to do to make sure that we win.”
The races for premier contests in Georgia are attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock reported earlier this week raising more than $26.3 million in the three-month period for his reelection bid against Republican Herschel Walker.
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