Chris Carr tops $2 million in re-election fundraising

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr raised more than $825,000 toward his re-election bid during the last half of last year, the Republican’s campaign reported.

Carr is seeking his second full term as the state’s top lawyer. He was appointed to the position in 2016 by then-Gov. Nathan Deal to fill a vacancy.

Carr was elected attorney general in 2018, winning 51.3% of the vote in defeating Democrat Charlie Bailey.

Carr’s fundraising during the last six months of 2021 brought his total contributions for the 2022 election cycle to more than $2.4 million. That puts him in a much better position than four years ago, when he had raised slightly more than $1 million through this point in the election cycle, Carr campaign spokesman Brian Robinson wrote in an email.

After spending nearly $880,000 on the campaign thus far, Carr reported more than $1.5 million cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

While Carr is unopposed for the Republican nomination, two Democrats are vying to challenge the GOP incumbent in November.

State Sen. Jen Jordan of Atlanta raised more than $650,000 during the last half of last year, bringing her total campaign fundraising thus far to more than $1.3 million, according to a report filed with the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission. She reported nearly $1.1 million cash on hand as of the end of December.

Atlanta lawyer Christian Wise Smith announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination this week. As a result, he won’t be required to file a report on his campaign finances with the state until the end of April.

File Photo: Carlton Fletcher