Two of the Democratic Party's biggest (and most expensive) losers in 2020 are preparing to spend even more money on the upcoming Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
Jaime Harrison, who raised a record-breaking $107 million for his campaign against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) only to lose by more than 10 percentage points, has launched a political action committee that will support the Democratic Party's efforts to flip both Senate seats in Georgia. The Dirt Road PAC, as it is called, is just the latest outside spending group to take part in what promises to be one of the most expensive statewide elections in history.
The announcement comes two weeks after failed Senate candidate Amy McGrath launched Democratic Majority Action, a PAC that will also focus its efforts on Georgia. McGrath raised more than $88 million in her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who won reelection by almost 20 percentage points.
The Democratic Party's performance in key 2020 Senate races constitutes perhaps the biggest waste of money in the history of American politics. In addition to Harrison's and McGrath's failed campaigns, unsuccessful efforts in Iowa, Maine, Montana, and North Carolina raised a combined $400 million. Of all the Democratic failures, only Cal Cunningham in North Carolina came within 6 percentage points of defeating the GOP incumbent.
The Georgia runoff elections will feature one of the Democratic Party's most prolific human cash incinerators in Jon Ossoff, who previously raised a record-breaking $30 million in a failed run for Congress in a district where he couldn't even vote for himself because he didn't live there.
Ossoff is attempting to unseat incumbent senator David Perdue (R., Ga.). Raphael Warnock, the other Democrat running for Senate in Georgia, is facing incumbent senator Kelly Loeffler (R., Ga.). The elections will take place on Jan. 5, just weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to be inaugurated.
Republicans currently control 50 seats in the Senate. Democrats control 48 but can still secure a narrow majority by winning both Georgia seats given incoming vice president Kamala Harris's ability to cast tie-breaking votes.