Georgia candidates spend millions in final week of early voting

Eight days remain before Georgia voters head to the polls for the final time, and candidates are spending heavily to secure the last surge of support. Advance in-person voting concluded on Friday, Oct. 30, setting the stage for the final push before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms focused on maintaining visibility during a Monday campaign event. She campaigned alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to drive base turnout. Bottoms emphasized the need for constant presence in local media and door-to-door contact. "We need to, one, make sure that our ads stay up on TV, on radio, that we're able to knock on doors, call people on the telephone, get these college students to work, making sure that everybody is engaged to help us turn out the vote," Bottoms said.

Republican gubernatorial challenger Rick Jackson rallied supporters in Carrollton. The event followed a weekend appearance with President Donald Trump in Perry. Jackson’s campaign aimed to energize the party base during this critical final week of advance voting.

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff urged voters to participate before early voting locations closed. He framed the push for turnout as a response to voting rights disputes. "For citizens who see Donald Trump's attacks on voting rights here in the cradle of the civil rights movement, voting rights that people marched and died to secure, to honor that sacrifice and to defend those rights, the best thing people can do is use those rights by voting," Ossoff said.

Republican challenger Mike Collins reported a change in campaign momentum since the first debate. Speaking in Jackson, Collins detailed his travel schedule across the state. "We’ve been seeing the momentum swing probably since right after that first debate. And we’ve been out here across this state, just crisscrossing the state for weeks now, putting over 2,000 miles on the vehicle and visiting with thousands of Georgians every week. We’ve seen that momentum push. Now that early voting has started, we’re seeing it turn up at the polls," Collins said.

The final week of advance voting required candidates to coordinate their schedules across multiple counties. The gubernatorial race saw tight margins and high spending levels. The Senate race featured a lead for the incumbent in recent polling. Both races entered the final stretch with candidates relying on physical presence and media saturation to reach undecided and loyal voters alike.