Georgia Democratic Senate hopeful Teresa Tomlinson raised only $520,000 in the last quarter, a number that pales in comparison to Democrats across the country and prior Georgia candidates.
While at least six other Democratic Senate candidates around the U.S. reported seven-figure hauls in the second quarter, Tomlinson came far short of that benchmark. It was less than a third of the $1.7 million that Democrat Michelle Nunn raised in the quarter after she began her Georgia campaign in 2013.
Tomlinson, the former mayor of Columbus, Ga., said she ended Q2 with about $330,000 in the bank. The man she hopes to unseat, Sen. David Perdue (R., Ga.), raised $1.9 million in the same period and has about $5 million in the bank as he seeks a second term.
Tomlinson entered the race officially on May 1, following the news that 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams wouldn't run. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the Democratic field is likely to grow after Tomlinson's weak total failed to intimidate other challengers.
"For a statewide race, you need to be in the millions. She’s not off to a quick start," Kennesaw State University's Kerwin Swint told the AJC. "You had some potential candidates who were waiting to see the numbers, and they’ll now probably decide to get in."
Other potential Democrats who could jump in include Sarah Riggs Amico, who lost last year's Georgia lieutenant governor's race, and Jon Ossoff, who raised $30 million in his unsuccessful bid to win the open House seat in Georgia's Sixth district in 2017.
Republicans mocked Tomlinson's results, the AJC reported:
Ryan Mahoney, a strategist for Brian Kemp’s successful campaign for governor in 2018, described the the total as "really good fundraising numbers IF you were running for state Senate." A pro-Perdue group contrasted Tomlinson with Jaime Harrison, a South Carolina Democrat who raised about three times more.
Tomlinson supports impeachment of President Donald Trump, who won Georgia in 2016 and has Perdue's support.
She's also been sharply critical of the pro-life bill signed into law in Georgia by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, calling it a transparent effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, in 2010 she said she believed life began at conception.
Her campaign told the Free Beacon that "she understands that cellular life begins at conception" but disputed the notion that personhood begins at conception.