ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Georgia said Monday he raised another $1.25 million for his 2026 gubernatorial bid from Feb. 1 to June 30.
The Republican announced the fundraising totals to The Associated Press on Monday, although he hasn鈥檛 yet filed an official report with the state Ethics Commission. Those reports are due Tuesday.
from November through mid-January, but couldn鈥檛 raise money while lawmakers were in session from mid-January until the end of March. He didn't immediately say how much he has spent of the nearly $3.5 million he has raised.
Carr is the only major GOP candidate who has announced for the race in Georgia, which saw titanic battles for the governor鈥檚 chair between Republican and Democrat in 2018 and 2022. Abrams lost both races, and no Democrat has won a governor鈥檚 race in Georgia since Roy Barnes in 1998. Republicans argue Georgia needs the stability of continued Republican control.
Democrats are meanwhile trying to prove their successes in other races were not a fluke. Former President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 and U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were elected to the Senate in runoffs in January 2021. In 2022, Warnock beat Republican Herschel Walker in a runoff to claim a full six-year term.
Carr took the his run for governor in November in part because he said he needed to get an early jump on fundraising. He could face Republican rivals with enough personal wealth to fund their own campaigns. Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, whose family has made a fortune running and supplying gas stations, is expected to announce his bid for governor in the coming weeks. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who sold a substantial engineering company, could also make a bid in the Republican primary.
Carr said in a statement that his numbers show 鈥渢hat kind of energy can鈥檛 be bought 鈥� it鈥檚 earned, and we鈥檙e ready to deliver.鈥�
Carr has aligned closely with Kemp but could face opposition from President Donald Trump and his supporters in a primary election. Jones has been close to Trump and would likely angle for his endorsement.
Fueled by displeasure that Carr didn鈥檛 back loss in Georgia, Trump in 2022 who lost to Carr.
Last week, the two leading Democrats said they had each collected about $1.1 million in early fundraising. Former Atlanta Mayor said she loaned her campaign $200,000 and collected $900,000 from donors, while state Sen. said he made a much smaller donation to his campaign with the rest coming from donors.
Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
