Ossoff rakes in more than $10M in latest Georgia Senate fundraising haul
Ossoff is vying for a second term in the Senate and is considered one of Republicans' best pickup opportunities next year, but his fundraising underscores picking off the first-term Georgia Democrat will be no easy feat.
His campaign touted that his average campaign donation this quarter was $32, with close to 98 percent of donations received being $100 or less. His campaign received contributions from all but three of Georgia's 159 counties.
'The Ossoff campaign is building unstoppable momentum to win next November, and the small-dollar, grassroots movement is the backbone of our victorious coalition. We're grateful for the overwhelming support,' Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster said in a statement.
Ossoff's second quarter fundraising is slightly lower than the more than $11 million his campaign touted in the first fundraising quarter of this year, though both fundraising quarter underscore a steady cash stream and an increasing war chest.
Ossoff ended the second quarter with $15.5 million in the bank, compared to the $11 million he ended the bank with in the first quarter. His campaign has also touted enthusiastic grassroots energy and excitement around his reelection, pointing out on Thursday that more than 1,700 people have indicated they want to volunteer for his campaign.
While Republicans see Ossoff as one of their best shots of flipping a Senate seat next year, the GOP has yet to rally around a clear candidate. Insurance Commissioner John King and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) have launched bids, but the others could enter the race, too, like Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.
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Politico
39 minutes ago
- Politico
Thune's pre-recess game plan
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The pending package will require senators to run out two, 30-hour debate clocks; the ability to move faster will require buy-in from all 100 senators. It will also take time for lawmakers of both parties to agree on amendments and then hold votes, and Democrats are still deliberating their strategy, a person granted anonymity to share private negotiations tells Jordain. Republican leadership still believes it can pass the mini-bus before leaving town, according to a second person granted anonymity. But one potential fallback option, according to two people granted anonymity, could be for the Senate to schedule a final passage vote before they leave town for the first week back in September. Senate Republicans are also under pressure from Trump to confirm more of his nominees before heading home for recess. Thune has warned his members to prepare to vote at least through this weekend after the president urged senators to stay in Washington through August to wrap up the work, though many lawmakers aren't pleased with that idea. They're eager, instead, to get back to their home states, especially as they look to counter Democratic messaging against the freshly-passed GOP megabill. Other Senate Republicans say they're ready to give Trump what he's after. Over the weekend, Sen. Mike Lee repeatedly urged his colleagues to either work through August to advance nominations or cancel all pro-forma sessions over the next month to allow Trump to make recess appointments. 'The Senate can't have it both ways,' Lee said in a post on X. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley also said he's on board with the president's call for the Senate to stick around to vote on nominations through August, writing on X, 'Trump needs his administration in place.' Republicans have typically been unenthused by the idea of recess appointments, though, and it's unlikely they'd go along with that plan. And while Thune is threatening to keep the Senate in session deeper into August, many lawmakers view it as just that: a threat to get Democrats to cut a deals on nominations to get out of town. 'I think it's fair to say that we're going keep the pressure on the Democrats to, you know, stay here until either they cooperate or we're just going to grind it out and do it the old fashioned way,' Thune told Jordain. GOOD MONDAY MORNING. Email us at mmccarthy@ jcarney@ crazor@ and bguggenheim@ Follow our live coverage at WHAT WE'RE WATCHINGWith help from Jordan Williams The House will meet for a pro forma session at 2 p.m. The Senate is in session and will vote to move forward with David Wright's nomination to be a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member at 5:30 p.m. Lawmakers will vote to confirm Wright and move forward with Earl Matthews' nomination to be DOD general counsel at 8 p.m. — Senate Agriculture will consider the nominations of Brian Quintenz to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Michael Boren to be under secretary of agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment at 5:30 p.m. The rest of the week: The Senate will continue marking up government funding bills and confirming the president's nominations. Pro subscribers receive this newsletter with a full congressional schedule and can browse our comprehensive calendar of markups, hearings and other notable events around Washington. Sign up for a demo. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE Johnson pans bipartisan push for a vote to release Epstein files Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday criticized an ongoing effort from Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna that would force a House floor vote to compel the release of more files related to the charges against the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bipartisan duo's proposal is 'reckless,' Johnson said on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' arguing it would force the DOJ and FBI to release information 'that was not even credible enough to be entered into the court proceedings.' He also said it wouldn't do enough to protect Epstein's victims. 'These are minors in many cases who were subjected to unspeakable crimes, abject evil,' Johnson said. 'They've already suffered great harm. We do not need their names being unmasked. The Massie and the Khanna [bill] ... does not have adequate protections.' 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The two lawmakers predict they will easily collect the 218 signatures required to circumvent leadership and force a floor vote on the matter upon the House's return from recess in September. Republicans blame Hamas as starvation conditions in Gaza worsen As the U.S. pulls out of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, GOP leaders say Hamas' inability to cooperate is damaging any hopes of progress in the region. Last week, a U.N. World Food Programme official said about a quarter of the population in Gaza is facing famine-like conditions. Yet as global condemnation sharpens against the Israeli military's limit on aid routes, Trump and Republican leaders continue to insist Hamas is to blame for the fact that civilians, including children, are dying of hunger. 'People are stealing the food, they're stealing the money,' Trump told reporters Sunday. 'They're stealing weapons. That whole place is a mess… the Gaza Strip.' 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Roy Cooper seemingly announced his bid for Senate in North Carolina this past weekend at a Democratic state party dinner. 'Everybody who is planning to run for office next year, please stand up!' Cooper told the crowd on Saturday night — then added, to enthusiastic cheers from the audience, 'Hey, I'm not sitting down. Am I?' Democrats, who see North Carolina as one of the party's best opportunities in an otherwise challenging Senate midterm map, have been eagerly awaiting Cooper's decision about whether to run for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. Trump has endorsed RNC chair Michael Whatley on the Republican side. THE BEST OF THE REST Democrats Get More Vocal About 'Horrors Upon Horrors' in Gaza, from Brett Bachman at NOTUS Democratic candidates are posting weightlifting videos in search of a midterm lift, from David Wright at CNN JOB BOARD Joel Valdez is now acting deputy press secretary for the Pentagon. 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Send your answers to insidecongress@
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Epstein furor undermines public trust, Republican election hopes, two US lawmakers say
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3 hours ago
Vice President JD Vance is on the road again to sell the Republicans' big new tax law
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is hitting his home state on Monday to continue promoting the GOP's sweeping tax-and-border bill. He will be in Canton, Ohio, to talk about the bill's 'benefits for hardworking American families and businesses,' according to his office. Aides offered little detail in advance about the visit, but NBC News reported that his remarks will take place at a steel plant in Canton, located about 60 miles south of Cleveland. The visit marks Vance's second trip this month to sell the package, filled with a hodgepodge of conservative priorities that Republicans have dubbed the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' as the vice president becomes its chief promoter on the road. In West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance told attendees at an industrial machine shop that they should be able to keep more of their pay in their pockets, highlighting the law's new tax deductions on overtime. Vance also discussed a new children's savings program called Trump Accounts and how the new law promotes energy extraction, while decrying Democrats for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year. The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled Congress by the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump's immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps. The vice president is also stepping up his public relations blitz on the bill as the White House tries to deflect attention away from the growing controversy over Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced financier killed himself, authorities say, in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump and his top allies stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein's death before Trump returned to the White House and are now reckoning with the consequences of a Justice Department announcement earlier this month that Epstein did indeed die by suicide and that no further documents about the case would be released. Questions about the case continued to dog Trump in Scotland, where he on Sunday announced a framework trade deal with the European Union. Asked about the timing of the trade announcement and the Epstein case and whether it was correlated, Trump responded: 'You got to be kidding with that." 'No, had nothing to do with it,' Trump told the reporter. 'Only you would think that." The White House sees the new law as a clear political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year. The northeastern Pennsylvania stop is in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a first-term lawmaker who knocked off a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall. On Monday, Vance will be in the district of Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is a top target for the National Republican Congressional Committee this cycle. Polls before the bill's passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.
