WASHINGTON — Outside groups in both parties have been flooding Georgia’s airwaves with millions of dollars of ads in the Senate runoffs, with Republican groups spending more than twice as much as their Democratic counterparts.
Both parties have descended on the Peach State for the two Jan. 5 contests that will determine control of the Senate. Should former congressional staffer and documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff unseat GOP Sen. David Perdue and pastor Raphael Warnock defeat appointed GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Democrats will control the chamber with Kamala Harris, as vice president, casting tie-breaking votes.
Outside groups have spent more than $196 million on the Georgia runoffs since the Nov. 3 election, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission as of late Monday afternoon. Of that outside spending, $133 million has been spent to help the two Republicans. Outside groups aligned with Democrats have spent $63 million.
That money comes from some very wealthy donors — including Loeffler’s husband — writing multimillion-dollar checks. It also comes from labor unions, donors with more pedestrian incomes, and from hidden sources because some of the groups that disclose their donors report getting money from other groups that don’t.