Two of Georgia’s most nationally watched politicians took in massive fundraising hauls in the first months of this year as they prepare for reelection campaigns in 2022.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock raised more than $5.7 million between Jan. 6 and March 31, amassing what his campaign said is the highest off-year fundraising quarter in Georgia history. The Democrat reported $5.6 million in the bank as he prepares for a competitive 2022 race.
Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene likely won’t have to worry about holding her deeply conservative northwest Georgia seat next year. But the freshman lawmaker raised $3.2 million during the quarter, sure to be one of the biggest takes in Congress.
Greene, who has a history of racist and hateful remarks, boasted on social media that the same controversies that led her U.S. House colleagues to strip her of committee assignments also drove supporters across the nation to write her checks. She has $2.2 million available to spend.
Active candidates for federal office faced a Thursday deadline to turn in their fundraising reports for the first quarter of the year, and it was an initial test for Warnock and other candidates preparing for challenging reelection battles.
Chief among them is U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who flipped a district straddling Atlanta’s northern suburbs in 2018. She raised more than $800,000 in the quarter and has roughly the same amount on hand as Republicans maneuver to challenge her.
Though McBath’s district had the largest swing to the left of all U.S. House seats in the past four years, according to a Cook Political Report analysis, she could face a more conservative electorate next year after state lawmakers use new census data to redraw the political maps.
The same could be said of U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who last year flipped the neighboring Gwinnett County-based 7th Congressional District. She raised nearly $700,000 in the first quarter and ended with about the same amount in her coffers.
“In 2020, with the support of so many individuals, we flipped this seat, becoming the only Democrat in the country to turn a seat from red to blue,” Bourdeaux said. “In 2022, we plan on keeping it.”
Her main rival so far is Republican Rich McCormick, a physician who narrowly lost the 2020 race. For his rematch bid, he’s stockpiled about $235,000.
Warnock’s race is among the most consequential nationwide for Democrats hoping to maintain control of the Senate. And his fundraising haul sent a message to potential GOP candidates about the expensive campaign they face.
Two Republicans have already announced they will challenge him, military veterans Kelvin King and Latham Saddler. Other prominent GOP figures are also contemplating a run and could soon join the field.
Georgia donors account for about 23% of Warnock’s itemized donations — contributions that exceed $200. He collected donations from residents of 48 states, everywhere but Nebraska and West Virginia, and he received some of the most support from California and New York.
The pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church was a first-time candidate when in early 2020 he announced his special election campaign to fill the remaining two years on retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term.
He raised nearly $150 million in a successful bid to oust U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a massive fundraising haul that trailed only fellow Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, the other half of the state’s Democratic Senate sweep.
The unprecedented totals were due largely to the fact that their contests decided control of the chamber.
Ossoff won’t face voters again until 2026, and his fundraising last quarter reflected a slowdown in campaigning. He collected a little over $1 million during the period and has $589,848 in cash on hand.
Ossoff has said that his primary focus is ensuring Warnock is reelected in 2022.
“It’s vital to the state, it’s vital to the country,” Ossoff said recently. “I am so pleased to count Senator Reverend Warnock as a colleague, as a brother, as a friend. And I’m going to do everything in my power to help secure his reelection so he can continue doing extraordinary work he’s already doing for the people of Georgia.”
