An update from our April filing.
If the aviators work this well for Dark Brandon and Benjamin Franklin, we might all need to get a pair. Composition by JD Jordan.
Georgia’s State Ethics Commission requires candidates and incumbents to report all contributions, expenditures, loans, and investments on a rolling basis. And in election years these filings are required at the ends of January, April, June, and September.
So, let’s take a look at what our April filings can tell us about how the two campaigns compare:
Looking back at the last 12-months
Our opponent is a seven-term incumbent with tremendous personal resources. To illustrate this point, his recent filings reveal that he both loaned himself and paid himself back $200,000 between January and April. Meanwhile our campaign depends far more on my donation of time, as evidenced by my more modest $1,200 loan to the campaign.
That said, our opponent’s $130,000 12-month raise eclipses our $17,000. But this isn’t really a surprise. He benefits from institutional support from companies like AT&T, Home Depot, and UPS as well as from conservative political action committees (PACs)—and 26% of these contributions came from out-of-state!
Donor sources & volume
Our opponent may beat on total dollars coming into this election cycle, we blow him out of the water when it comes to individual support. 100% of our one-time and recurring donations come from individuals! Compare that to our opponent who—with many more months of fundraising preceding us—received only 27% of his contributions from individuals.
In fact, over the 12-month period ending April 31, 2024, our campaign benefited from 170 individual donors compared to his 34. And 80 of our donors joined us in the last three months (February–April) while our opponent saw zero itemized personal contributions in the same period.
Average individual donations
Our grassroots approach isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. Our opponent’s 34 individual contributors each gave, on average, $1,064 while our campaign’s average donation was a much more modest $85. But this, too, is a victory. Our opponent’s donors are by-in-large attorneys, C-levels, and other executives. Meanwhile, our donors are more varied and more representative of the district: designers, teachers, managers, retired individuals … and a few executives, too. 😇
Total February–April raises
While our opponent began this year with a hefty war chest, he barely moved the needle between February 1 and April 31. To be fair, Georgia campaign finance rules don’t allow incumbents to fundraise during the 40-day legislative session (January–March). But one would expect his incumbency, his press coverage, and his three campaign mailers to add up to something.
But with just one itemized PAC donation in the waning days of April, our opponent only raised $2,100 while our 80 individual donors brought in over $6,000—and that doesn’t include in-kind donations that helped with campaign photography and events!
What does this all add up to?
Fundraising is challenging—no doubt about it—and we have a lot more money to raise over the next six months so we can afford things like signs, billboards, mailers, and the like. But our operation is lean and scrappy. And like so many of the great startups I’ve worked with over the years, there are many more metrics to value than dollars alone.
The figures above are profoundly encouraging: We’re reaching and engaging with more people than our opponent. Many of you have heard me say, it’s just as important to show that we have high participation rates as it is to show we can raise high dollar amounts. And this is what I mean. I reckon 170 of us can do far more with $17,000 than he and his 34 can do with nearly 8x as much. Because it’s not supposed to be about who’s richer, it’s supposed to be about who represents you better. And I’m down to put in the work to make up the difference.
Thank you to everyone who chipped in and who believes—as I do—that it’s time for change in the 56! If you’re one of our campaign donors, you’ll receive an email this week with these and some other updates. And if you’re not a donor yet, I’ve got an easy fix for that…
JD JORDAN FOR GEORGIA STATE SENATE DISTRICT 56
For anyone in East Cobb, Roswell, or Woodstock alarmed by the state’s escalating attacks on our bodies, our families, our doctors’ offices, our classrooms and libraries, even our polling places, I’m running for state senate district 56 to fight for our freedoms and to deliver a better future for everyone in Georgia.
And unlike my opponent who’s spent 14 years rolling back our freedoms, failing to safeguard our kids, and gerrymandered his district to stay in office, I promise to bring everyone in the 56—regardless of ideology—the best possible constituent experience so you feel heard, valued, and supported. As we all deserve to be.
I’m running for the 56. Let’s make a better Georgia for all of us.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Jordan For Georgia, LLC
10800 Alpharetta Hwy Ste 208 #629
Roswell, GA 30076-1467
jdjordan@forthe56.com
706.804.0456
