ATLANTA – Emergency room physician Dr. Rich McCormick has raised more money than any other candidate in a crowded Republican primary field in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
But Jake Evans, former chairman of the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, has a little more cash on hand than McCormick for the final weeks heading into the May 24 GOP primary.
McCormick raised $605,054 during the first quarter of this year, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. But he had already raised a lot more earlier in the 2022 election cycle, which brought his total campaign fundraising to about $3 million through the end of last month.
Evans raised $411,163 during January, February and March, bringing his total to more than $1.5 million. But since Evans has held onto most of his money to be spent in the campaign’s final stages, he still had $1.24 million cash on hand as of March 31, compared to $1.16 million for McCormick.
Both men have relied on loans to help bolster their bottom lines. Evans has loaned his campaign $700,000, while McCormick has put up $680,200 of his money in the form of a loan.
After the General Assembly’s Republican majority redrew the 6th Congressional District map to heavily favor the GOP, the race drew a lot of interest from Republicans. Besides McCormick and Evans, six other Republicans are on the primary ballot.
Business owner Mallory Staples raised $726,372 through the first quarter, including a $250,000 personal loan. Former state Rep. Meagan Hanson raised $531,186 through March 31, including a personal loan of $50,000.
Blake Harbin raised $260,263 through the first quarter. However, $250,000 of that came in the form of a loan Harbin made to his campaign.
Suzi Voyles raised $124,277 through the end of last month, slightly ahead of Byron Gatewood’s $105,376. Eugene Wu’s campaign brought in $74,145, including a personal loan of $50,000.
The only Democrat running in the 6th District, Bob Christian, is self-financing nearly all of this campaign. Of the $106,540 he has raised, $105,220 came through a personal loan.
The 6th District, currently served by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, was substantially reshaped during the special redistricting session of the General Assembly last November to extend north through Republican-friendly Forsyth and Dawson counties, and eastern Cherokee County.
As a result, McBath is now running in the 7th Congressional District against fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who defeated McCormick two years ago to win her seat in Congress.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.