Fundraising in the Georgia governor's race: 2018 vs. 2022
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
It's February in an election year, which means we've got a better picture of how much money Georgia's candidates have raised.
Why it matters: It's breaking news to no one, but this year's gubernatorial race is simply on another planet than 2018's. Need we remind you that Georgia remains at the center of the political universe?
Flashback: In 2018, for the six month reporting period that ended Jan. 31, Stacey Abrams had raised $1.7 million and had $461,000 cash on hand in her primary race.
- She had loaned her campaign $50,000.
- Then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp had raised $1.2 million in six month and had $2.1 million cash on hand.
- The majority of both candidates' donations came from Georgia.
Flash forward: As of Jan. 31, 2022, Stacey Abrams had been in the race about two months.
- She raised a whopping $9.3 million from more than 100,000 donors during that time.
- She had $7.2 million cash on hand and no loans.
- Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp raised $7.5 million over six months and had $12.7 million cash on hand.
Per the AJC's James Salzer, 80% of Abrams' donations this election have come from out of state.
- Brian Kemp's team reports 84% of his contributions are Georgian.
Meanwhile, Kemp's primary opponent, former Sen. David Perdue, has raised $1.1 million in about two months and has about $871,000 on hand.
- The Perdue campaign reports 64% of his donations came from Georgia.
Zoom out: Perdue is not alone among Trump-backed Republicans being out-fundraised in their primaries, as Axios' Lachlan Markay has reported.
Between the lines: This cycle, Abrams has received nearly $60,000 from members of the Democratic-megadonor Soros family.
- Perdue, meanwhile, received $5,000 from former President Donald Trump's Save America PAC.
Another Georgia race that has taken on a new level of prominence this year is secretary of state.
- Around this time in 2018, Brad Raffensperger had about $77,000 cash on hand.
- This year he has more than $513,000.
- Meanwhile, Raffensperger's Trump-backed opponent, Rep. Jody Hice has nearly $650,000 to work with.
- Leading Democratic candidate Bee Nguyen has under $950,000.