Democrats spent nearly $200 million on the gubernatorial campaigns of Beto O'Rourke in Texas and Stacey Abrams in Georgia, but both candidates failed to even make their races competitive against Republican incumbents, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday.
Abrams lost to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp by nearly eight percentage points with 99% of the vote reported despite raising almost $100 million between her campaign and leadership committee, according to state filings.
In Texas, O'Rourke lost to Gov. Greg Abbott by nearly 11 percentage points with 99% of the vote reported. He suffered this loss despite raising $77 million and spending $72 million as of October 29. In July, O'Rourke broke the state's four-month fundraising record when he hauled in $28 million.
Both candidates had been deemed rising Democratic stars four years ago after Abrams narrowly lost to Kemp by 1.5 points and O'Rourke was defeated by Sen. Ted Cruz by just two percentage points.
Other Democrats were also defeated in Tuesday's midterms after receiving large financial support. In Florida, Rep. Val Demings lost to Sen. Marco Rubio by 16 percentage points with 99% of the vote counted despite raising $70 million.
And only three House Democrats raised more money than Georgia's Marcus Flowers' $15 million, but he was defeated by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by 31 points with 99% of the vote reported.
In 2020, Democrats also spent large amounts on campaigns that did not turn out to be close on Election Day. In Kentucky, for example, Amy McGrath spent $90 million on her nearly 20-point loss to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell two years ago.
In addition, that year Jaime Harrison raised $109 million in his race against South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, but lost by 10 points.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.