No matter who wins Tuesday’s gubernatorial election, Democrat Stacey Abrams has shown both parties that you can raise big money from $10 and $20 donations.
Abrams' small-money fundraising machine - much of it online - was relentless, and it paid off in a big way. As of Oct. 25, she had collected $5.6 million across the country from folks who gave her less than $100. In total, she had raised more than $22 million at that point.
By contrast, Republican Brian Kemp - the biggest campaign fundraising in Republican gubernatorial history - took in $441,000 from the small-dollar donors.
The numbers for Kemp, who was asking supporters to chip in gas money at some of his campaign stops, aren’t necessarily bad for a typical Georgia gubernatorial election. For instance, during the same period in 2014, Democratic challenger Jason Carter had collected $431,000 in such low-dollar donations.
The extent of Abrams’ effort is even more impressive when you consider the amount she raised from people giving less than $100 is only a few million dollars less than either Nathan Deal or Roy Barnes had collected, in total, at this point from ALL donors in the 2010 governor’s race.
Combined, Abrams and Kemp will wind up taking in about $44 million by the time the polls close Tuesday, doing their bit to produce the most expensive governor's race in Georgia history.
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