(Bloomberg) — Democrat Jon Ossoff’s bid for a Georgia Senate seat raised $106.8 million over the last two months, tripling the $32.8 million he received over the previous 15 months of his campaign, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Ossoff and his fellow Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock both face high-stakes races against incumbent Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. If Democrats manage to unseat their opponents in the Jan. 5 runoffs, the Senate will be divided 50-50 and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can break any tie votes in favor of Democrats.
Warnock and Perdue, who’s opposing Ossoff, have yet to file their reports. They have until midnight Thursday to do so. Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who’s opposing Warnock, filed her report one day early. She raised $64 million and had $21.3 million in the bank heading into the last weeks of the campaign.
The two Georgia contests have drawn national interest, with some donors writing seven-figure checks to super-PACs and online donors pumping money into the candidates’ coffers.
The filing covers the period between Oct. 15 and Dec. 16, and includes money raised for the general election as well as the runoffs.
Ossoff spent $93.5 million, and had $17.5 million cash on hand heading into the stretch. He’s the biggest media spender in his race against Perdue, booking television, radio and digital ads totaling $47.5 million since the Nov. 3 election through Dec. 16, according to data from AdImpact.
Grassroots donors, those contributing less than $200, gave Ossoff $49.6 million. It’s not the first time small-dollar donors poured donations into his coffers. In 2017, he raised $19.1 million from them and $30 million overall while unsuccessfully running in a special election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district. Though Ossoff lost, the contest was the first demonstration of Democratic donor enthusiasm during President Donald Trump’s presidency.
In the general election, Perdue led Ossoff 49.7% to 48%. The Loeffler-Warnock race was a special “jungle primary” to fill the seat vacated by Johnny Isakson. Warnock led 32.9% to Loeffler’s 25.9%. Republican Doug Collins came in third with 20%.
President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia by 12,670 votes, giving Democrats some confidence that they can take at least one Senate seat for the first time since 2005. Both Trump and Biden have campaigned in the state.
Some super-PACs active in the runoffs also filed reports covering their activity between Nov. 24 and Dec. 16. The Lincoln Project, founded by former Republican operatives who opposed Trump and now back Democrats, raised $4.8 million, spent $7.5 million and had $5.4 million cash on hand.
On the Republican side, ESAFund raised $5.1 million. Marlene Ricketts, wife of billionaire Joe Ricketts, gave $1.9 million, while Citadel founder Kenneth Griffin, hedge fund manager Paul Singer and Charles Schwab, founder of Charles Schwab Corp., each gave $1 million. The super-PAC spent $1.4 million, including a $250,000 donation to Gun Owners Action Fund, and had $3.7 million cash on hand. Georgia United Victory, which backs Loeffler, raised $2.8 million, spent $3.4 million and had $411,236 in the bank.
Some smaller super-PACs had big-name donors. Keep America America Action Fund got $600,000 from Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, a little less than two-thirds of the $902,170 it raised between Nov. 24 and Dec. 16. Singer and Schwab each gave $250,000 to America Patriots PAC. Both groups backed the Republicans.
