Warnock campaign boasts confidence heading into Georgia Senate race

Democrat Raphael Warnock’s Georgia Senate campaign says it is in a strong position just over 100 days out from the Peach State’s critical election, saying the reverend is in a prime spot to make gains before November.

In a memo released Thursday, Warnock’s campaign touted their endorsements, fundraising and recent polling, indicating Georgia is primed to be a battleground state. The memo added that the campaign has a shot of at least making it to a January runoff in the jungle primary for the seat currently held by Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.). 

“Looking ahead to Election Day, Reverend Warnock is the candidate positioned to win support across urban, suburban, and rural Georgia; capitalize on the state’s new battleground status; and provide Democrats the best chance to flip a U.S. Senate seat in a generation,” the campaign wrote. 

Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach, is the Democratic Party’s chosen candidate in the race against Loeffler. Warnock has earned endorsements from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and a slate of high-profile Democrats, including Rep. John Lewis (Ga.), former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) and more.

He has also boosted the party’s hopes of flipping the seat with strong fundraising.

Warnock hauled in nearly $3 million in the second quarter of the year, outpacing both Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), another top candidate in the race who Democrats hope could divide the GOP vote. Warnock raised more than $4.4 million for the cycle in total and has nearly $2.9 million cash on hand. 

The Warnock campaign’s memo highlighted recent polls suggesting the reverend is in contention for a potential runoff spot. A Public Policy Polling survey released in June found Warnock clustered with Loeffler and Collins near the top of the pack with 20 percent of the vote, compared with 21 percent and 23 percent for Loeffler and Collins, respectively.

A Civiqs poll released in May showed him in second place behind Collins in the November election and winning in head-to-head match-ups against either Republican in a runoff.

The memo comes as Democrats increasingly look to Georgia as a battleground state up and down the ballot.

The party is hoping to seize on Democratic momentum from Abrams’s 2018 gubernatorial bid and shifting demographics to make gains in the state. Polling shows the presidential race to be a jump ball in Georgia, an alarming sign for Republicans in a consistently GOP-leaning state. 

Some Democrats also predict that infighting between Collins and Loeffler will not only open a lane for Warnock in the race but also filter into Georgia’s other Senate race, where Sen. David Perdue (R) is up for reelection. 

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the race for Loeffler’s seat as “lean” Republican.