Georgia's Sen. Warnock raises $13.6M in 2022's first quarter

ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock says his fundraising has set a new record as Georgia's Senate campaign shapes up to be one of this year's most expensive races.

Warnock reported Thursday that he raised $13.6 million in the first three months of 2022, outpacing what was already a hefty $9.8 million raised in the last three months of 2021.

The senator's campaign said it was the most money ever raised by a U.S. Senate candidate in the first quarter of an election year, giving Warnock $25.6 million in cash on hand.

Warnock is a heavy favorite to defeat Tamara Johnson-Shealey in the Democratic primary. Republican Herschel Walker is the frontrunner among six GOP candidates in the May 24 primary. Libertarian Chase Oliver will also be on the general election ballot in November.

Walker has been raising large amounts of money as well, but has trailed Warnock thus far, collecting $5.4 million in the last three months of 2021.

Georgia will be a key battleground in these 2022 midterm elections to determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Republicans had long dominated statewide races until Georgia helped elect Joe Biden to the presidency and enabled Democrats to control the Senate by electing Warnock and fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff in a January 2021 runoff.

Warnock, pastor of the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, became Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator after winning a special election in 2020 to fill the unexpired term of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who stepped down because of failing health. Isakson died in December.

The senator is already spending heavily, although details won't be available until Warnock files his report with the Federal Election Commission. Despite the big fundraising quarter, Warnock's cash on hand rose...