Oct.01

electoral-vote.com

Dem 53

Ties 2

GOP 45

Ossoff is Raising Money for OTHER Democrats

It is not uncommon for politicians to raise money for other candidates—but not when they themselves are up for reelection. After all, your own reelection takes priority. It does happen occasionally, though, under special circumstances. Most commonly, that happens when the politician is not on the ballot this year and is planning to retire rather than run again. See next item for an example.

On the other hand, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is doing something very odd: He is raising money for other Georgia Democrats, especially Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running for governor of Georgia, and the Georgia Democratic Party, which is in a better position to judge which other Georgia Democrats need help.

How come? We can think of six reasons:

1. He is very confident and thinks his own reelection is a done deal and he doesn't need to advertise or campaign much anymore, although joint appearances with other Democrats are a form of campaigning.
   
   
2. He wants to create a Democratic Party machine in Georgia, a state critical to the Democrats' hopes in 2028 and especially beyond, after the 2030 census.
   
   
3. Working to help other Democrats brings in a lot of goodwill with the voters. Someone who works for the whole team is positively viewed. Also, the opposite. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D?-TX) lost the Senate primary to James Talarico and is now endorsing and campaigning for other Texas Democrats—except Talarico. How do you say "sore loser" in Texan? You can be sure this "omission" will come up in the primaries if she ever runs for public office again. By contrast, candidates Ossoff is helping will surely remember his help later on.
   
   
4. Bottoms is Black and if she wins, he hopes Black voters will remember who was there for her when she needed help.
   
   
5. Even if Bottoms wins, Ossoff may be seen as the leader of the Georgia Democratic Party. He will be viewed as an experienced pol with a lot of clout and she will be seen as a rising star, but not the state party leader yet.
   
   
6. It is increasingly obvious that Ossoff is seriously contemplating a presidential run in 2028. In addition to the goodwill and visibility with Black voters—who will play an outsized role in the nomination—is if the Democrats get their druthers and South Carolina goes first (which is not certain yet because New Hampshire law says it must have the first primary), having a Democratic governor who owes him one can't hurt in the 2028 primaries or general election.

In short, Ossoff is making the point that the Party can count on him and also doing what he needs to do to get a running start in 2028. (V)