Money pours into statewide races, fueling 2022 Georgia showdown

The slow drip of campaign fundraising reports culminated Thursday with a few surprises as state-level politicking begins to ramp up again with Georgia poised for a return to the national spotlight.

It’s still early to draw many conclusions, and some races – most notably, the governor’s race – are not even fully set. But Thursday’s campaign fundraising deadline gave some candidates a chance to flex their fundraising muscle as the 2022 matchups begin to take shape.

Governor’s race: Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s is socking away millions in anticipation of a hard-fought reelection bid. He reported raising $3.9 million this period, which brings his total haul for this cycle up to $11.9 million.

Kemp faces at least one primary challenger, Vernon Jones, who is a former Democratic state representative who switched parties last year. Jones announced he had raised $650,000 this cycle and has touted endorsements of those in former President Donald Trump’s inner circle – Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn – but not Trump’s personal backing. Trump vowed to help defeat Kemp and has continued to criticize the governor for not supporting his baseless claims that widespread election fraud cost him another term in the White House.

Democrat Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018, is expected to run again but has not publicly announced her plans. It’s worth noting, though, that the voting rights group she launched three years ago, Fair Fight, reported raising $6 million just this period.

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/2021/07/09/money-pours-into-statewide-races-fueling-2022-georgia-showdown/