The campaign of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has raked in nearly $6 million in fundraising since his victory in January, a figure the staff says is record-setting for a candidate in an off year in Georgia.
His campaign told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the first-year senator brought in more than $5.7 million in funds from early January to late March. The campaign said more than 101,000 donors contributed to the campaign during the 12-week span.
The figure is the highest a candidate has raised in an off year, the aides told the newspaper.
“In just a few short months, Senator Reverend Warnock has proven he delivers for Georgia and quickly passed coronavirus relief that included stimulus checks, relief for small businesses and resources for communities hit hardest by this pandemic,” Warnock’s campaign told the outlet.
The reveal comes months after Warnock captivated the nation when he unseated former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in one of the state’s two January U.S. Senate runoffs. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) in the same set of races, which flipped the upper chamber from Republican to Democrat. The Senate is split 50-50, but Vice President Harris’s tiebreaking vote gives Democrats control of the chamber.
Unlike Ossoff, Warnock is up for reelection in 2022 because his race was a special election, as Loeffler had been sworn into the seat in early 2020 to serve out the remainder of former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s (R-Ga.) term.
Since January, Warnock, Georgia’s first Black senator, has focused on pushing for expanded voting rights and access, among other legislation, as Republican legislators in his state and others across the country have advanced measures in recent months that advocates say would make it harder for people, particularly those of color, to vote.
During his first floor speech, Warnock urged his colleagues to pass election reform legislation while criticizing “voter suppression bills” he said have been filed by lawmakers “using the big lie of voter fraud as a pretext for voter suppression” since January.
Among bills that have been introduced in Georgia by Republican state legislators in recent months are measures that would end no-excuse absentee voting and automatic voter registration as well as require more identification to vote absentee.
Georgia Republicans backing the measures have argued that it is needed to boost election security and public trust in the state’s elections, particularly as former President Trump has continued to spread unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud and claim the November race was rigged.
Democrats and voting rights advocates have raised alarm over the legislation, with many saying it would needlessly make it harder for more Americans to vote.