Democrats Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams collected tens of millions of dollars while being on course to lose in the 2022 midterm elections.
For the entire 2022 election season, neither O’Rourke nor Abrams have dominated in any significant public polling. However, recent fundraising figures reveal that O’Rourke raised well over $76.5 million through the end of Oct., whereas Abrams collected more than $97 million. Despite prior losing elections, both candidates have a track record of record-breaking fundraising.
According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, O’Rourke raised more than incumbent GOP Gov. Greg Abbott by around $1.5 million in October. O’Rourke received $10.5 million over the most recent 30-day reporting period, which ran from Sept. 30 to Oct. 29, while Abbott received only $9 million.
O’Rourke has raised more money than Abbott in each of the past three reporting periods, and he presently has much more cash in hand than Abbott, $4.3 million to $3 million. Nonetheless, Abbott actually collected more funds overall: Abbott collected a total of $103 million over the cycle, whereas O’Rourke raised only $76.5 million.
Georgia’s governor’s race is a rematch involving Abrams and Republican incumbent Brian Kemp. The candidates’ aggregate fundraising total has nearly tripled from their first campaign against one another in 2018. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Abrams and Kemp raised $165 million during the filing period that ended on October 25.
But, unlike O’Rourke, Abrams has raised significantly more money than the Republican incumbent. Kemp raised $8 million in the preceding reporting period, for a total of $69 million. He has $10.3 million in cash on hand. Meanwhile, Abrams raised $11.5 million within the same time period and has collected a total of $97 million over the course of the cycle; she presently has $5.6 million in cash on hand. In 2018, the two candidates spent a total of $48 million.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of surveys in both states, despite raising massive quantities of money, both Dems are on track to lose their respective contests.
