GOP Donors Pour Millions Into Ga. Race

'Unbelievable' sum of money fuels runoff for Senate seat
By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 28, 2008 2:22 PM CST
GOP Donors Pour Millions Into Ga. Race
Former Vice President Al Gore stumps for Senate candidate Jim Martin in Atlanta. Martin is locked in a Dec. 2 runoff with first-term Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.   (AP Photo/Stanley Leary)

With Democrats just two seats away from mounting a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, GOP donors are injecting millions into Georgia’s runoff election, USA Today reports. Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss raised $1.6 million in large contributions in about a week, compared to $462,000 for Democrat Jim Martin. Chambliss also has pulled in $2.5 million the last few weeks from groups such as the NRA, about double Martin's haul from outside groups.

“The amount of money coming into this (race) is unbelievable,” said a non-partisan watchdog. “It almost makes me nostalgic for the days when we were a backwater election state.” Much of the money has been used to pay for negative TV ads. The Dec. 2 runoff, along with Minnesota’s ongoing recount, will determine if Democrats can block Republican-led filibusters.
(More Georgia stories.)

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