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Progressive donors can’t help but have Georgia on their minds. The Peach State went blue in 2020, delivering Joe Biden the White House, and after a special election on January 5, 2021, Democrats a one-vote tiebreaker majority in the Senate.
But if Republicans have their way, those gains will be erased this November. Raphael Warnock, the Baptist preacher and activist turned senator, is the incumbent. He faces a tough reelection battle; the GOP will do whatever it takes to contest the seat. Warnock has referred to himself as “the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for reelection.”
Warnock took in $54.1 million in all of 2021 and ended the year with over $22 million on hand. His campaign war chest is stuffed, but those numbers can be deceiving—Republican dark money will flow into the state and his closest opponent on the fundraising side, former NFL player turned GOP candidate Herschel Walker, is picking up steam. A late January poll found the two in a statistical dead heat.
“Obviously, 2022 in Georgia features some of the nation’s most compelling candidates and storylines,” New Georgia Project Strategic Communications Manager Paul Glaze told Blue Tent. “We’re interested in how the media and the public portray the U.S. Senate Race — only the second time in United States history that two Black men are running against each other for U.S. Senate.”
Georgia Republicans have put in work to ensure voting is difficult in the state. Gov. Brian Kemp, who defeated Stacey Abrams in 2018 through the use of dubious tactics and even more dubious votes, is now the state’s highest authority on voting, and it’s likely he’ll do whatever it takes to wield that power to his and his party’s advantage.
Undaunted, Abrams — who founded New Georgia Project just over a decade ago — is once again running against Kemp in 2022. Her campaign is banking that four years of fighting to expand the right to vote, turn Georgians out to the polls, and make the stakes of the election clear will pay off.
According to Axios, Abrams raised $9.3 million during the two months she was in the race, with $7.2 million on hand at the end of January. Kemp took in $7.5 million over six months with $12.7 million on hand. The two are set up for a fiery rematch.
Already, Abrams has had to play catch-up. Kemp is taking advantage of a newly created carve-out in Georgia law allowing him to take in funding through a “leadership committee.” The state legislature opened the door to these fundraising groups for party nominees and incumbents — allowing Kemp to get a head start on using them while Abrams would presumably be fighting through a primary. But Democrats immediately coalesced around Abrams, making her the de facto nominee, and she’s sued the state to be allowed to use the committee, as well.
“Early fundraising supports later fundraising by demonstrating a candidate's political viability and widespread appeal, particularly in a high-dollar, statewide election in a swing state like governor of Georgia,” Campaign Manager Lauren Groh-Wargo wrote in an affidavit for the case.
The race has added weight, New Georgia Project’s Glaze told Blue Tent. The “new Georgia” that the group aims to build requires a partner in the governor’s office. And getting there will mean getting voters to the polls.
“We hope for large turnout by constituencies that care about progressive change for underrepresented communities,” Glaze said.
Abrams and Warnock have large campaign war chests, making these races a low priority for small donors looking to give with maximum impact — at least right now. It may make more sense to donate to lower-profile Democratic candidates in Georgia, including whoever emerges as the nominees for the important offices of secretary of state and attorney general. But both Abrams and Warnock face hugely expensive races, and it could be that every donation will count to get the two across the finish line.