The Runoff Report : Democrats announce GA coordinated runoff campaign leadership, strategy

By

Ballotpedia staff
Image of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia.

December 1, 2020

Republicans have secured 50 seats in the next U.S. Senate compared to Democrats’ 48 (including two independents who caucus with them). Control of the next Senate comes down to Georgia’s runoff elections. In The Runoff Report, we provide the latest on each race and the fight for Senate control.

Regular election updates

David Perdue posted an ad Monday defending himself against Jon Ossoff’s criticisms of Perdue’s stock trades. A narrator says the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Perdue and that he was not at a Senate briefing on the coronavirus. 

Jon Ossoff kicked off a series of door-knocking events in several cities Tuesday. He also released an ad featuring audio of former President Barack Obama saying Ossoff would fight for voting rights and listen to experts to help get the pandemic under control.

This election is for a full six-year term ending January 2027. Perdue was first elected in 2014. Ossoff ran against Karen Handel (R) in the 6th Congressional District special election in 2017.

Click here for more coverage of the regular election.

Special election updates

Kelly Loeffler campaigned in Atlanta with Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) Monday.

Raphael Warnock‘s campaign is holding a fundraiser hosted by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Lisa Borders, former president of the WNBA and Atlanta City Council, Tuesday. Warnock posted an ad Monday saying the value of “love your neighbor as yourself” has been forgotten in Washington and that he would be the voice of ignored communities in the Senate.  

The special election will fill the remainder of the term Johnny Isakson (R) won in 2016. He resigned in Dec. 2019, and Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Loeffler, co-owner of the WNBA team Atlanta Dream. Warnock is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The winner will complete the term ending in January 2023. 

Click here for more coverage of the special election.

Overall campaign updates

  • The Georgia Democratic Party, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Ossoff and Warnock campaigns announced the coordinated runoff campaign’s leadership team. The coordinated campaign is focusing on voter targeting and outreach. The leadership team includes director Jonae Wartel, who ran the early vote program for Stacey Abrams’ 2018 gubernatorial bid and was chief program officer for an initiative training organizers for the 2020 presidential election in battleground states.

The announcement says the coordinated campaign voter outreach and targeting program includes:

  • in-person paid and volunteer door-to-door canvassing that will observe all necessary public health and safety protocols;
  • outreach, engagement and mobilization of key constituencies- specifically black, LatinX, AAPI, and young voters – including those who turned 18 after the November 3rd election and are now eligible to vote in the runoffs;
  • a digital organizing program that uses the sophisticated targeting tools that helped President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris flip the state for the first time in decades; and
  • a multi-channel voter contact and turnout program geared towards educating voters about the unique January 5th runoff election, including the voter registration deadline and in-person early vote dates. This program is targeting voters in the mail, with live phone calls, texts and online.
  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) published an op-ed in the Washington Examiner supporting Loeffler and Perdue. It read, in part:

As a Republican governor in a deep-blue state, I know firsthand how one-party monopoly can wreak terrible consequences. 

…

Although Joe Biden won the White House, Republicans added a governorship in Montana, far exceeded expectations in Senate races, gained seats in the House and in state legislatures. The result was a mandate for moderation and compromise — not for more gridlock, extremism, and dysfunction. 

… 

For the sake of our nation, I urge Georgians to uphold America’s mandate for moderation and compromise by voting to keep David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the U.S. Senate.

Today: Influencer spotlight – Ossoff-Warnock joint fundraising committees

Ossoff and Warnock have two joint fundraising committees. The Ossoff-Warnock Victory Fund includes the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). The Georgia Senate Victory Fund includes the Georgia Federal Elections Committee.

On Nov. 17, Stacey Abrams was the special guest at a virtual fundraiser for Ossoff and Warnock, the proceeds of which went to the Georgia Senate Victory Fund. Tickets ranged from $54 to $15,600.

The Ossoff-Warnock Victory Fund filed its statement of organization Oct. 14. Treasurer Laura Matthews is deputy national finance director at the DSCC.

The Georgia Senate Victory Fund filed an initial statement of organization including the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns July 11. It filed another statement of organization Nov. 5 adding the Georgia Federal Elections Committee. Treasurer Judith Zamore was chief financial officer for Cory Booker’s 2020 presidential campaign.

See yesterday’s Runoff Report for our spotlight on the Senate Georgia Battleground Fund—the joint fundraising committee between Loeffler, Perdue, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.