ATLANTA (AP) — The two leading Democrats running for Georgia governor in 2026 each say they have collected $1.1 million in early fundraising.
State Sen. Jason Esteves announced on Tuesday that he had raised more than $1.1 million, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced a similar total on Wednesday. Bottoms said she loaned her campaign $200,000 and collected $900,000 from donors, while Esteves said he made a much smaller donation to his campaign with the rest coming from donors.
The reporting period covers Feb. 1 through June 30. Neither campaign had filed an official report with the state Ethics Commission by Thursday. Reports aren’t due until next week.
The totals are less than the $2.2 million that Attorney General Chris Carr, the only major Republican candidate who has declared so far, raised last year. But it’s more than Democrats have raised this early on in recent years.
Stacey Abrams didn’t officially announce for governor until December 2021, although she went on to outraise Republican Brian Kemp even as she lost to the incumbent in 2022.
Before the 2018 election, Abrams had raised $480,000 at this point in 2017, while fellow Democrat Stacey Evans had raised $400,000. Like Abrams in the 2022 election, Democrat Jason Carter didn’t announce his unsuccessful 2014 bid until November 2013.
No Democrat has won a governor’s race in Georgia since Roy Barnes in 1998.
Bottoms said she had nearly 7,100 donors. Her campaign manager, Ned Miller, said in a statement that the one-term Atlanta mayor has “major advantages in name ID and popularity that put Mayor Bottoms in a strong position to win the governor’s race in 2026.”
Esteves is less well-known statewide but has been rolling up endorsements, including from some labor unions, groups of state legislators, Atlanta City Council members and Atlanta school board members. Esteves was an Atlanta school board member before he was elected to the state Senate. Esteves said 85% of his donations came from inside Georgia.
“Georgians are ready for a new generation of leadership,” Esteves’ campaign manager Meg Scribner said in a statement.
Among other Democrats running for governor, state Rep. Derrick Jackson hadn’t filed a report as of Thursday. Atlanta pastor Olu Brown reported raising almost $19,000 and having $16,000 on hand.
