Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reelection campaign is touting a sizable fundraising haul as the vulnerable incumbent gears up for a blockbuster midterm race.
Ossoff announced Thursday that he raised more than $10 million in the second quarter of the current fundraising cycle — which follows the candidate raking in over $11 million during the first three months of the year. His campaign’s growing financial largesse comes as the GOP primary field is highly unsettled after Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bailed on the race. (RELATED: Dem Senate Candidates Running In ‘Toss-Up’ States Co-Sponsor Bill To Eliminate Women’s Sports)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) was first to report Ossoff’s fundraising numbers and his campaign closing the second quarter with $15.5 million cash on hand. The campaign said the average second quarter contribution was $32 and that they received donations from all but three of Georgia’s 159 counties, according to the AJC.
Senate Republicans view Ossoff’s seat as a top flip opportunity during the midterms to grow their 53-seat majority. Ossoff is viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic senator running for reelection due to Georgia’s Republican leanings and President Donald Trump carrying the state last November.
Ossoff has also shown no apparent signs of moving to the center. The Democratic incumbent has conveyed his support for the president’s impeachment, joined with Democrats in blocking legislation barring biological males from participating in women’s sports and voted against the president’s signature tax bill that temporarily eliminates no taxes on tips and overtime pay and permanently extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter and Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King are the only well-known candidates to enter the Republican primary thus far.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 14: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) asks questions to Mike Bowen, Executive Vice President of Prestige Ameritech, during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing to discuss protecting scientific integrity in response to the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, May 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
Carter ended the second quarter with just over $4 million in the bank, according to the AJC. He raised roughly $1.1 million over the past three months and loaned his campaign another $2 million.
Several Georgia Republicans could also jump in the contested primary as national Republican groups and the White House have yet to coalesce around a candidate to take on Ossoff.
Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, a two-term House lawmaker who helped lead the push to make the Laken Riley Act law, appears to be inching closer to a Senate bid.
“It was never in my plans to run for the U.S. Senate,” Collins said in a video posted to the social media platform X Tuesday. “But I also understand that sometimes you don’t do what you want to do, but what you need to do.”
“I’m going to meet with my family. We’re going to pray on it,” Collins added. “I’m going to continue to talk to President Trump and his team just about where we can be the best, beneficial, most help in this mission to make sure that we get a Republican in the U.S. Senate from Georgia.”
“The Ossoff campaign is building unstoppable momentum to win next November, and the small-dollar, grassroots movement is the backbone of our victorious coalition,” Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster said in a statement obtained by The Hill. “We’re grateful for the overwhelming support.”
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