Kelly Loeffler blasts California campaign donations — after getting $146,000

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Monday slammed the Rev. Raphael Warnock, her Democratic opponent in the race for her Georgia U.S. Senate seat, for raising money from California donors ahead of the upcoming January runoff in the race.

But Loeffler has already raised nearly $150,000 from California donors during the 2020 campaign.

“While @ReverendWarnock courts California liberal elites & Silicon Valley to flip Georgia for the radical left, we’re counting on every day Americans to fuel our effort,” she tweeted along with a link to a right-wing news site’s report that Warnock was set to participate in a fundraising event Monday evening with “Silicon Valley” donors.

The tweet included a request that supporters “chip in” to her own coffers.

Loeffler, most likely the wealthiest member of the Senate, has poured more than $23 million of her own fortune into her campaign since she was appointed in December to the Senate seat left vacant by the retirement of Republican Johnny Isakson. But rather than simply accepting donations from “every day Americans,” she has accepted money from wealthy special interests and donors from California.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsible Politics, Loeffler has taken almost $147,000 already this year from contributors in the Golden State. More than a third of her itemized donations have come from outside of Georgia.

She has received contributions from big tech companies, including PAC donations from companies such as Google ($5,000) and Comcast ($5,000). In total, political action committees have given more than $800,000 to her campaign.

The Daily Beast reported in June that Loeffler was offering benefit levels labeled “investors,” “shareholders,” and “board members” to donors to her campaign. A fundraising brochure promised those who gave and raised large sums of money for her campaign would receive invitations to quarterly breakfasts and other events. She also hosted a $2,800-a-head fundraising “retreat” on Sept. 11 at a private beach and golf course on Sea Island, Georgia.

It is not yet known how much was raised at Monday’s event, a joint fundraiser for Warnock and Democrat Jon Ossoff, who is vying against incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue in a runoff for the state’s other Senate seat.

Loeffler received about 25.9% of the vote in Tuesday’s special election, coming in second.

Because no candidate got a majority, she and first-place finisher Warnock will face off again in a runoff election on Jan. 5.

Loeffler claimed last week that that her second-place finish was a “clear message” from Georgians “that they want us to continue our hard work in Washington.”

The Loeffler campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.