Dear John,
I’m grateful to the people of Georgia for electing Raphael Warnock to a full term in the United States Senate last week, and I’m grateful to everyone who got behind him in Georgia and throughout the country to make it possible.
This victory is testament to Warnock's work in the Senate, his effectiveness as a candidate and to the decade-long organizing and infrastructure push led by Stacey Abrams, the New Georgia Project and so many others as well as the extraordinary amount of money invested in the state.
In just the last two years $1.4 billion has been spent on just four races in Georgia, including Warnock’s. Investments in data, voter contact, technology and communications have enabled strong Democratic candidates to triumph over weaker Republican ones in what was once thought to be a reliably Red state. Without that investment, as strong a candidate as Warnock is, the deeply flawed Herschel Walker would have been able to ride entrenched partisan affiliation to victory.
By way of comparison, though the recent Texas governor’s race set fundraising records for the state, the candidates only raised a combined $220 million (Abbott $140m and I raised $80m). Add the 2020 Texas Senate race where the candidates spent a combined $66 million, and you have the only meaningful races in the same time period drawing five times less than Georgia, a state that is three times smaller!
Money isn’t everything. Strong state and county parties, proven local leaders, grassroots organizers, good candidates, all of that matters. But to have the infrastructure — the reliable voter data and modeling, the team of professionals who can run effective campaigns, the systems, technology and coordinated efforts between stakeholders that are strengthened year-in and year-out and not just rely on one or two big name candidates or high profile races that come around every so often — we will need big, consistent investment in Texas.
There’s a lot to learn from Georgia, and I look forward to continuing to talk with the people who’ve led important recent victories there, like Senator Warnock’s. But clearly, if Texas is going to be competitive on the same level that Georgia is, we’re going to have to invest at a much higher level.
Beto
