TOPLINE
After WNBA players wore T-shirts on Tuesday supporting Raphael Warnock, who’s running for a U.S. Senate seat from Georgia currently held by Republican Kelly Loeffler, his campaign raised $183,000 and picked up 3,500 new donors.
Rev. Raphael G. Warnock delivers the eulogy for Rayshard Brooks at his funeral in Ebenezer Baptist ... [+]
KEY FACTS
Loeffler, who co-owns the Atlanta Dream, has spoken out against the Black Lives Matter movement and opposed efforts by the league to honor it.
In an extraordinary show of public protest, players from five teams—including the Dream—wore “Vote Warnock” T-shirts Tuesday.
In the last 48 hours, Warnock’s campaign said it gained 3,500 new donors and raised $183,000, though as of June 30, Loeffler had brought in four times more cash than Warnock overall, according to OpenSecrets.
Loeffler said in a statement Wednesday night that players supporting her opponent are an example of “out-of-control cancel culture.”
Big number
Loeffler led Warnock by 17 points in a Monmouth University poll released last week. Loeffler has 26% support, followed by fellow Republican Doug Collins at 20%, Democrat Matt Lieberman with 14% and Warnock with 9%. The special election is a blanket primary, and if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on November 3, the two top finishers will advance to a January runoff.
Key background
Loeffler was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee and the Department of Justice after investigations into whether she made stock trades this year based on information on the coronavirus that she learned from Senate briefings. She’s married to Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange. Loeffler's stake in the company likely makes her the wealthiest member of Congress, according to Forbes estimates.
