The Democrats running in the two critical Georgia runoffs that will decide control of the Senate have raised over $200 million in the last two months, new election filings show.
The Federal Election Commission filings, made public Thursday evening, reveal that the Rev. Raphael Warnock brought in just over $103 million between Oct. 15 and Dec. 16, while Jon Ossoff raised $106.8 million in that same timespan.
Their GOP opponents, incumbent Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, reported raising $64 million and $68 million, respectively.
All four of the numbers trounce the previous record held by former Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, who raised what was then considered an astonishing $57 million in the final quarter of his race against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
All eyes have focused on two Senate battles in Georgia, both with GOP incumbents. The current balance of the Senate is 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats, meaning that whichever way these two seats go will decide which party controls the upper chamber of Congress.
If Democrats were to win both seats and keep the body evenly split, tie votes would be broken by the vice president, Kamala Harris.
The first race has Loeffler facing off against Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.
Loeffler was not elected to her seat; she was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned in December due to health concerns.
The second race pits Democrat Ossoff against Perdue.
President-elect Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia over President Trump, marking the first time a Democrat carried the Southern state since Bill Clinton defeated former President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
Democratic strategists have said once-red Georgia is within reach for their party, but GOP analysts have argued it will be harder for the left to convince their voters to come out in an election without Trump on the ballot.
In order to carry the state, however, both parties will need to spend heavily to maintain relevance in an increasingly expensive race. Some have speculated that the advertising spending alone could approach $500 million.
