A peek inside the more than $100 million Georgia ad war

Georgia’s marquee midterm races have become a high-stakes laboratory for paid communication.

In the Republican race for governor, candidates and their allies have already combined to spend roughly $106 million either propping up contenders or tearing them down.

The figure doesn’t capture the full scope of spending on online ads, streaming platforms, glossy mailers, text campaigns or door-to-door outreach. But it offers a measure of how much the GOP contest is being shaped by the most traditional tool in statewide politics: paid television.

The largest sum has come from billionaire Rick Jackson, who has placed about $56 million so far. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones follows with roughly $26 million when combining spending by his campaign and leadership committee.

And then there’s the mysterious anti-Jones group Georgians for Integrity, which has unleashed almost $20 million in ads.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, hoping to squeak by Jackson or Jones, has placed roughly $2 million in ads over the last two weeks and has another $2 million booked. Attorney General Chris Carr is on the air, too, but with far less spending than his rivals.

Cash-strapped Democrats, by contrast, have lined up only $2.3 million in ads, hoping that whoever emerges as the nominee for governor will have a flood of national resources waiting.

Most of that sum has come from former state Sen. Jason Esteves, whose campaign has already spent about $1.3 million and booked nearly $700,000 more through the May 19 primary.

Former DeKalb County chief executive Michael Thurmond snapped up $150,000 worth of ads promoting his push to cut the state sales tax in half.

Meanwhile, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic front-runner, appears to be spending more on glossy booklet-style mailers going to likely party voters than television ads. An AdImpact analysis shows she’s only spent about $49,000 on TV.

The U.S. Senate race is even stranger.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins leads the GOP polls but isn’t on the air. Former coach Derek Dooley launched an anti-Washington ad last week. And U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter’s main TV spot attacks Collins over a pending ethics complaint accusing him of misspending taxpayer dollars, allegations Collins denies.

Then there’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a fundraising juggernaut with more than $31 million in the bank who isn’t yet spending heavily on TV for a simple reason. He doesn’t have to.

Things to know

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today.

Scott scholarships stall

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Republicans on a key U.S. House panel defeated an effort on Tuesday from Democrats to fund and name an agricultural scholarship program for the late U.S. Rep. David Scott.

According to Regular Order’s Jamie Dupree, the vote and debate came in the House Rules Committee as the panel labored to set up debate on the House floor for a major farm policy bill. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., offered the plan to honor Scott, who died last week. It would cover a scholarship at historically Black colleges and universities for agriculture studies, as part of the Farm Bill.

But Republicans gave the amendment the stiff arm.

“I will do what I can to work with you to make this happen in a separate piece of legislation,” said U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, “but not as something that is intended to disrupt this process today.”

Although Scott had offered warm words about his late Georgia colleague last week, Democrats took umbrage at his move Tuesday. “I don’t know why this would disrupt the process,” McGovern snapped. “I don’t get it, and it’s just frustrating.”

The amendment for the Scott scholarship was defeated on a party-line vote of 6-4.

Fani Willis in focus

Credit: Atlant

Credit: Atlant

State Sen. Bill Cowsert has made his work to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a focus of his campaign for attorney general. Now, one of his Republican rivals is using it against him.

Cowsert and other Republicans have accused Willis of pursuing a political prosecution of President Donald Trump. Cowsert leads a special legislative committee that has investigated Willis.

But state Sen. Brian Strickland, Cowsert’s chief rival for attorney general this year, noted during an Atlanta Press Club debate on Tuesday that it took Cowsert’s committee nearly two years to get Willis to testify. And when that day finally arrived, Strickland noted Cowsert skipped the hearing.

“He wasn’t there when it mattered most,” Strickland said of Cowsert.

Cowsert called that “the first cheap shot of this campaign.” He said he’d had surgery the week before and elected to have his vice chair question Willis rather than delay the hearing.

For his part, Cowsert questioned Strickland’s credentials, noting he graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law, which closed in 2021 amid accreditation and funding problems. Strickland responded that, unlike Cowsert, he has been endorsed by more than 100 Republican sheriffs and district attorneys.

Speaking of Willis, she endorsed Democrat Nabilah Parkes’ bid for lieutenant governor. She said the former state senator will “never back down from taking on MAGA Republicans and fighting for our democracy.”

Who can win?

Credit: Atlanta Press Club

Credit: Atlanta Press Club

In the Democratic debate for attorney general, the focus is on who has the best chance to win.

Democrats have not won an election for attorney general since 2006. This year, state House Minority Caucus Chair Tanya Miller of Atlanta is facing former state House Minority Leader Bob Trammell of Luthersville.

Trammell got elected to the state House in 2014 and was eventually elected minority leader. He won in a district that both Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp have won.

“When it comes to the full combat, general-election experience of facing a Republican, I am battle-tested,” he said.

But Trammel lost his seat in 2020 after Republicans spent millions to defeat him. Miller cited her experience as a state and federal prosecutor, as well as her experience fighting for working people.

“What voters want, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, in my opinion, is someone who’s going to stand up for them, who’s going to put them before special interests and who is going to protect them in a way that only a prosecutor can,” Miller said. “That is what I bring to this table.”

Listen up

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we discuss the recent debates in Georgia’s Republican races for U.S. senator and governor.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Clearing House

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

Votes in the U.S. House were canceled on Tuesday while Republicans worked to gain support for moving forward with three must-pass pieces of legislation: renewing the Farm Bill, extending section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and ending the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.

A key procedural vote to advance all these bills will happen today on the House floor. It’s unclear if Republicans, who hold a slim majority, have the votes to move forward.

There are roadblocks all around.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, is among the conservative Republicans who say they want more guardrails to ensure the FISA regulations don’t allow snooping on U.S. citizens without warrants.

Republicans who represent districts heavily depending on agriculture want provisions in the Farm Bill to lower the cost of fertilizer, among other changes.

And now, the DHS funding legislation is being threatened by conservatives who want the package to include other provisions like election reform, new tax cuts or even funding Trump’s proposed White House ballroom.

The Homeland Security legislation is crucial because the White House on Tuesday said it needs Congress to quickly authorize money to continue paying workers at the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies. Unpaid TSA workers are likely to cause major delays at airports in Atlanta and across the nation.

Will any of the lawmakers who aren’t getting their way follow through on their threats to withhold support? House Speaker Mike Johnson can’t afford to lose more than two Republican votes if everyone is present and all Democrats oppose advancing these bills, as expected.

Today in Washington

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

Mayor of Facebook

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson has won fans from as far away as Romania after one of his recent Facebook posts about former Vice President Kamala Harris went viral across Instagram and TikTok.

The original post was innocuous enough — an observation that he enjoyed having the former vice president in Savannah for a book signing of her memoir, “107 Days.” But when some commenters took swipes at Harris, the mayor dropped the hammer.

“She is not welcome in Georgia,” one woman wrote. To which Johnson replied, “Well since you are only followed by three people, it seems you are not welcome on your own page.”

After another said, “Savannah needs a new mayor,” Johnson responded, “You need an education.”

The post now has nearly 5,000 comments, with plenty of people asking the digitally engaged mayor to run for president. Johnson said that while people are welcome to disagree on his Facebook page, he draws the line when they’re disrespectful.

Shoutouts

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Before you go

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

We’re hosting a Politically Georgia Happy Hour at Manuel’s Tavern on May 15 — and we’d love for you to join us. Come have a drink with Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell and Patricia Murphy to ask questions about the election and anything else politics related. Subscribers will get an email on Thursday around 1 p.m. EDT with full details and RSVP information.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.