The by-elections in Georgia are just arrogant for political fundraising – legislators and political action committees from across the country are stepping in to shake out the cash.
Facebook stopped political advertising the week before election day, but announced earlier this month that it would temporarily resume before the end. The exemption only applies to ads targeted to the state.
Republican Sen. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler hope to meet the challenges of Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock to face, after each candidate on election day could not get enough votes to win straight. The run-off elections are January 5th.
FACEBOOK INTERRUPTION BAN ON POLITICAL ADVERTISING FOR GEORGIA RUNOFFS
From left to right: Rev. Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff, Senator Kelly Loeffler and Senator David Perdue. (Photo illustration / Getty Images)
If the Democrats win both races, the Senate will have a 50-50 draw between the GOP and the senators acting with the Democratic Party, which includes the independent senses Bernie Sanders and Angus King. Elected Vice President Kamala Harris would have a potential breakaway vote, which would give Democrats control over both the legislature and the executive.
Publicly available Facebook advertising spending data shows that a number of high-profile politicians have used the races and candidates to raise funds for their own PACs, the Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.
This includes members of both parties, such as Sens Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Kirsten Gillibrand, and incoming members of the House, who have not yet been sworn into Congress. And that includes President Trump. They can still use the money raised for their PACs to campaign on behalf of the Georgia candidates, but most of it will be controlled by their respective committees.
When the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political action committee set up by conservatives, tweeted the Daily Beast story, another Twitter user pointed to the group’s own fundraising from Peach State.
“The Lincoln project raised $ 4.8 million between November 24 and December 16 to suppress the Senate by-elections in Georgia,” wrote Rob Pyers, of the non-partisan California Target Book, which monitors political campaigns and discusses them report. “Since then, he has spent $ 1.1 million on independent expenses in those races and paid Steve Schmidt $ 1.5 million.”
Schmidt, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, was a Republican strategist for years before breaking up with President Trump over the party. The Lincoln project did not immediately respond to a request from Fox News for comment.
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The Georgia candidates themselves collected record amounts before the run-off.
Both Ossoff and Warnock have raised more than $ 100 million each over the past two months. In the same scope, Perdue and Loeffler raised more than $ 60 million apiece.
The previous record of quarterly fundraising for a Senate campaign was $ 57 million.
Samuel Dorman and Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.