Republicans join forces to raise cash for Georgia Senate runoffs

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the campaigns of Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) have raked in a combined $32 million over the past six days as they prepare for a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the upper chamber in 2021 and beyond.

In addition to the fundraising effort, the NRSC has already dispatched more than a dozen staffers to the state in a push to build out a presidential-level voter contact program ahead of the Jan. 5 runoffs. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported the investments, which were later confirmed by the NRSC. 

Republicans have so far secured 50 Senate seats in the next Congress, while Democrats trail with 48 after coming up short in a handful of states they had targeted this year.

That means party control of the chamber will hinge on the outcome of the two Senate runoffs in Georgia. Democrats will need to win both in order to gain a majority vote in the upper chamber, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. 

Perdue is facing off against Democrat Jon Ossoff after neither candidate managed to clear the 50-percent vote threshold needed to win the Senate race outright. 

Loeffler, meanwhile, will go head-to-head with Democrat Raphael Warnock. The two emerged as the top vote-getters last week after a 20-person “jungle primary” sparked by the retirement of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) late last year.

Money has already flooded into Georgia in preparation for the runoffs. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams announced earlier this week that she had pulled in some $6 million to help both Ossoff and Warnock.

And on Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said his campaign had donated $1 million to the NRSC in support of Loeffler and Perdue. The South Carolina senator’s campaign said he had raised $1.1 million for Perdue and Loeffler since Monday.