by Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder
July 18, 2025

The 2026 election is still over a year away, but candidates across the Peach State are already hard at work, seeking to win over Georgia voters early and raise funds for their campaign.

Tuesday was the most recent Federal Election Commission filing deadline, when all candidates in federal races must publicly disclose information about how they raise and spend campaign funds. All 14 of Georgia’s U.S. House seats and one of its two Senate seats will be up for grabs next year in what will likely be a closely watched election. 

For the numerous federal candidates who have launched campaigns since the beginning of April, the FEC filings offered the first glimpse into how fundraising efforts are going in some of Georgia’s most notable races. 

Here’s what the most recent campaign data shows.

U.S. Senate

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is the only Democratic senator up for re-election in a state won by Trump in 2024, and will likely face fierce Republican attempts to unseat him as he seeks a second term in Congress. 

It’s not clear who he will be facing on the Republican side, but Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter and Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King have both launched campaigns for the seat. Neither candidate has secured an endorsement from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp or President Donald Trump, though the two leaders have held at least one meeting to discuss backing a Republican candidate.

Carter, a self-described “MAGA warrior” who serves on the House Budget, Energy and Commerce committees in Congress, became the first established Republican candidate to declare his bid for Senate shortly after Kemp announced he would not be running. 

King followed soon after, announcing his candidacy for Senate while also boasting his loyalty to Trump’s agenda.

Other potential Republican candidates include former football coach Derek Dooley and U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson, though neither one has announced a campaign for the seat.

But Ossoff, who raised more than $11 million during the first three months of 2025 and over $41 million in the most recent quarter, is currently dominating the Georgia fundraising landscape. In comparison, Carter raised a total of $3.5 million since the beginning of this year, and King has raised $518,000.

U.S. House District 1

Six-term Congressman Buddy Carter’s decision to run for Senate has left a vacancy in his coastal Georgia House district, causing a flurry of new candidates to announce their bids for his seat. Carter, a pharmacist, was re-elected to his seat last fall with 62% of the vote.

Among them are Chatham County Commissioner Patrick Farrell, insurance executive Jim Kingston and former gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor, who until earlier this year served as a regional district chair for the Georgia Republican Party. No prominent Democrats have announced their candidacy yet in the Republican-leaning district.

Kingston, the son of longtime Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston, is currently leading fundraising efforts with nearly $870,000 raised. Farrell has raised $276,000, and Taylor has amassed $8,000.

U.S. House District 13

U.S. Rep. David Scott, a 12-term Democratic veteran in Congress who represents a district in east metro Atlanta, may be in for a fight during next year’s primary election.

At least five candidates have declared primary challenges against Scott, who made history in 2020 as the first Black lawmaker — and the first Georgian — to chair the House Agriculture Committee. Scott, who was first elected to his seat in 2002, has bested primary challengers before. In 2024, he easily sailed over six other Democrats in the primary before defeating Republican nominee Jonathan Chavez with more than 70% of the vote in the general election.

But this year, as he prepares to seek a 13th term in the House of Representatives, Scott is  facing growing pressure to step aside. He is currently the oldest member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, having celebrated his 80th birthday in June. He was also ousted as the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee last December after missing two weeks’ worth of votes due to back issues. Just a few days later, he made headlines for yelling profanities at a Politico photographer who took a photo of him in a wheelchair.

Scott’s primary challengers have also cited his age and health struggles as reasons that the 13th district could use some new representation. State Sen. Emanuel Jones of Decatur, a businessman who was first elected to the state Legislature in 2004, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Scott’s decline was “the worst kept secret in politics.” Jones filed paperwork to run for the seat in January. 

Other candidates vying for Scott’s seat include state Rep. Jasmine Clark of Lilburn. A Democrat, Clark flipped a Gwinnett County seat that had long been considered a Republican stronghold when she was first elected to the state House in 2018, and has successfully fended off challengers in the years since. Her congressional campaign leans on her experience as a microbiologist, Emory University nursing professor and mom, citing cuts to Medicare, medical research funding and reproductive health care. 

“I ran to be a voice for science and truth in the face of Republican disinformation and ever since I’ve been taking on the toughest fights for Georgia families,” Clark said in a campaign video.

Former Gwinnett County Board of Education Chair Everton Blair, who made history as the first Black and openly gay member of the Gwinnett County School Board, entered the race in April. According to the most recent FEC filings, Blair is in the lead, having raised more than $227,000 as of June 30. 

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content presents information about the upcoming elections in Georgia in a straightforward, factual manner without overt editorializing or partisan language. It covers candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties, highlighting fundraising amounts, campaign activities, and election context. The tone is balanced, providing relevant details about each candidate’s background and political standing without favoring one side. This neutrality and comprehensive approach are indicative of a centrist political bias.