ATLANTA – Investigative journalist Jon Ossoff has grown his fund-raising lead in the final stretch leading up to the June 9 Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
Ossoff’s campaign raised $739,362 between April 1 and May 20, according to the final campaign-finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) before next month’s election to choose a Democrat to challenge incumbent Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga.
Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson raised $402,003 during the same period, followed by businesswoman and 2018 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Sarah Riggs Amico, whose campaign brought in $237,381.
Ossoff’s totals for April and the first three weeks in May padded a fund-raising advantage he already enjoyed over his two main Democratic opponents. Overall, he has raised more than $4.1 million, compared to almost $2.5 million for Tomlinson and nearly $1.7 million for Amico.
Ossoff, who lost a special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District seat to Republican Karen Handel in 2017, noted in a news release that he is refusing contributions from corporate political action committees. He also has raised all of his campaign funds without resorting to personal loans.
Tomlinson floated a $50,000 loan to her campaign in recent weeks, in addition to a $30,000 loan earlier in the campaign cycle. Amico’s fund-raising totals include a personal loan of $765,000.
All three candidates have raised enough money to air TV ads in recent weeks. Entering the last weeks of the primary race, Ossoff still had $950,850 left in his campaign treasury, compared to $236,985 cash on hand for Tomlinson and $177,771 for Amico.
Perdue faces no Republican opposition on June 9 and will hold a huge financial advantage over whichever Democrat wins that party’s nomination. Seeking a second six-year term, Perdue had raised more than $13.4 million through May 20 and had almost $9.4 million remaining, according to his report to the FEC.
However, the race is shaping up as more competitive than the fund-raising disparity between Perdue and the Democrats would indicate.
A recent online poll conducted by Civiqs and published by left-leaning website DailyKos found Ossoff with a slight lead over Perdue, 47% to 45%. However, that amounted to a virtual tie because the poll’s margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.1%.
The same poll showed Perdue ahead of Tomlinson by a single percentage point and leading Amico by three.