Democrats are growing concerned that Republicans will hold onto Georgia’s two Senate seats in next week’s run-off elections.
The GOP’s outside groups continue to outspend Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on TV ads and social media campaigns, leading the two Senate hopefuls to beg progressive grassroots organizations for more money.
“To win this election in 8 days, we need to continue our historic efforts to turn out every single voter — but we won’t be able to do that if our fundraising revenue continues to fall,” Warnock campaign manager Jerid Kurtz and Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster wrote in a memo obtained by NBC News.
While it is not uncommon for candidates to dangle the prospect of trailing or losing to boost their fundraising intakes, even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is reportedly “pessimistic” about Ossoff and Warnock’s chances, according to a Democratic source.
However, Schumer spokesperson Justin Goodman denied that the Democrat leader was at all concerned about the run-off elections—upon which control of the Senate may hang.
“This is absolutely not true and this anonymous ‘source’ has no idea what they’re talking about, and it’s really sad NBC published it,” Goodman said in a statement.
“Schumer has diligently made calls and fundraised for both Georgia candidates and is optimistic about their chances in January,” he added.
Democrats might not want to publicly admit it, but their recent losses in down-ballot races have created cause for concern.
Most polls predicted that Democrats would win seats across the board, but they failed to win the Senate seats they needed and they lost nearly a dozen House seats to Republican candidates.
Recent polls have both Ossoff and Warnock up ahead of Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, but by very narrow margins.
The future of our country is on the ballot in Georgia.
Chuck Schumer wants to “change America” — and @ReverendWarnock & @ossoff are his loyal agents of radical change.
We’re going to Hold The Line, but we need Georgians to GET OUT AND VOTE! #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/xEAkBy6ak9
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) December 29, 2020
