With his SC campaign over, Harrison now lending a hand to Democratic hopefuls in GA
After spending more than $130 million on his own U.S. Senate bid, Democrat Jaime Harrison is still raising campaign cash.
Harrison’s campaign said he has so far raised $450,000 for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, two Georgia candidates in runoff races which will ultimately decide which party controls the Senate in 2021. Harrison has posted digital messages to supporters encouraging them to contribute and sent emails to potential donors.
Ossoff and Warnock are looking to unseat Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler on Jan. 5 after neither of the candidates in those races received a simple majority of the votes in the Nov. 3 general election.
If the Democrats win, the Democratic and Republican parties will each have 50 seats in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking the tie, giving Democrats control of the chamber. Republicans already are slated to have at least 50 seats in the chamber, with hopes of increasing it to 52 seats.
Harrison’s campaign spokesperson Guy King told The State the campaign “will continue to fundraise to ensure our neighbors in Georgia have the necessary resources to bring it home.”
But Harrison isn’t the only capable fundraiser from South Carolina sending money to Georgia.
Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who defeated Harrison to earn a fourth term, has so far donated $1 million to the National Republican Senate Committee efforts to hold both seats, and raised another $1.1 million directly for Perdue and Loeffler’s campaigns.
Harrison and Graham set fundraising records in South Carolina’s Senate race.
Harrison spent more than $130 million, an all-time record in the country for a Senate candidate. The $108 million raised by Graham is a record for any Republican and incumbent senator. Most of the money for both candidates came from donors from outside the state.
Final financial reports for the campaigns are expected in December.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 4:26 PM.
