Georgia GOP Senate candidates Derek Dooley and Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) both announced on Monday that they had each raised nearly $2 million in the high-stakes primary to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) next fall.
Dooley’s campaign said it had raised more than $1.85 million since his launch in early August, ending the quarter with $1.7 million in the bank.
Meanwhile, Collins’s campaign said they had announced slightly more – roughly $1.9 million since his debut in late July – in addition to $1 million that his congressional campaign transferred to his Senate campaign.
Collins’s campaign noted that of the $1.9 million he raked in between late July and September, he received 40,210 donations with an average contribution being roughly $47. He ends the quarter with $2.4 million in the bank.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who is also vying for the GOP nod to take on Ossoff next year, has not yet announced his fundraising totals for the last quarter. Candidates have until Oct. 15 to report their third-quarter fundraising reports, which encompass July through September.
The totals announced Monday are notable, setting the tone for what was already expected to be a high-stakes Republican primary. Dooley, a former University of Tennessee football coach, enjoys the backing of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) while Collins rolled out a 159-county organizational team to support his candidacy early.
Ossoff’s seat is seen as one of Republicans’ top pick-up opportunities next year after the first-term senator narrowly defeated U.S. ambassador to China David Perdue during a runoff in 2021. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) also narrowly beat U.S. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler (R) that cycle in a runoff, helping deliver Democrats their Senate majority.
Republicans lost an opportunity to gain one of those seats back in 2022 when Warnock narrowly beat Trump-backed GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker, despite Walker’s controversies, including revelations around additional children he had that he had not previously disclosed.
The GOP is looking to avoid a similar mistake again this time in the Peach State. President Trump has not yet weighed in on the Republican Senate candidates.