Lucy McBath leads Carolyn Bourdeaux in fundraising for primary race

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath raised more than $745,000 during the fourth quarter of last year in what promises to be a competitive Democratic primary race against fellow Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in Georgia’s newly redrawn 7th Congressional District.

While Bourdeaux raised more than $430,000 in October, November and December, both candidates reported total fundraising of about $2.5 million since the two-year campaign cycle began.

It wasn’t until November that McBath, D-Marietta, and Bourdeaux, D-Lawrenceville, found out they would be pitted against each other. In a special legislative session, the General Assembly’s Republican majority redrew McBath’s 6th District to heavily favor the GOP, prompting McBath to run in the 7th District, currently represented by Bourdeaux.

Both candidates stressed the grassroots nature of most of their campaign contributions.

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About 83% of the donations to Bourdeaux during the fourth quarter were for less than $200.

“Congresswoman Bourdeaux has raised her formidable war chest without taking a dime of corporate PAC money,” said Ashely Wolsefer, Bourdeaux’s campaign manager. “Instead, she has relied on her powerful coalition of grassroots supporters—workers, teachers, business owners, families, community leaders, and advocates.”

McBath raised 94% of her fourth-quarter campaign contributions from donors giving less than $200.

“Rep. McBath is proud to be running a grassroots-powered campaign that refuses to accept a single dime of corporate PAC money,” campaign spokesman John Lee said.

A third Democratic candidate in the 7th Congressional District race is state Rep. Donna McLeod of Lawrenceville.

Republicans running in the heavily Democratic district include Michael Corbin, Elfreda Desvignes, Yahanseh George and Mark Gonsalves.

The redrawn 7th District takes in large portions of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties.

This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.