SCOOP: First time candidate raises historic sums in bid to oust Ossoff

Derek Dooley raised almost $2 million, all from donors, in under 60 days.

Derek Dooley has never run for office before running to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.) in one of 2026’s marquee Senate races. But in just two months, he has raised just shy of $2 million, according to his most recent campaign finance filings.

Dooley’s $1.85 million haul is more than several other Republicans who went on to win Senate races in the Peach State — like David Perdue — raised in their first quarters of their race, and he did it in under 60 days. All of Dooley’s haul was raised from donors, making it even more impressive to have done in so little time.

Critically for Republicans’ bid to unseat the well-funded Ossoff is that almost all of Dooley’s money is still in the bank; he has over $1.7 million cash on hand.

“This incredible, early support for our campaign proves that hardworking Georgians want a political outsider with common-sense leadership representing them in the U.S. Senate,” Dooley said of his haul. “For the past 8 weeks, we’ve hit the ground running at full speed in order to build the operation needed to win this seat back for the people of Georgia. I’m deeply honored by everyone who has joined our campaign and I am greatly humbled by the trust they have instilled in me. I will never stop working to earn the support of every voter so that Georgians can have a voice in the United States Senate that is focused on putting Georgia first.”

Ossoff has been in hot water in recent weeks, as the Washington Reporter has covered, especially over what his critics are comparing to “Stolen Valor”; Ossoff took credit for championing a bill that others say he had nothing to do with.

Dooley’s campaign chairman, Don Leebern III, said that Dooley’s success in the fundraising realm works in tandem with how the former college football coach has been on the campaign trail.

“Not a single day has gone by where [Dooley] wasn’t in a living room, making phone calls, attending events, stopping by a local small business, or traveling across the state meeting and shaking hands with hardworking Georgians,” Dooley — one of Trump’s biggest donors in Georgia — said. “His historic fundraising numbers prove that nobody in this race is capable of outworking him, and he gives Republicans the best chance of taking back this seat from Jon Ossoff the Democrats.”