We called out former GOP Rep. Karen Handel back in April for pretending that she’d raised more money in 2019 than she actually did, so she responded this week by … doing the exact same thing.
Handel, who is seeking a rematch with Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath in Georgia’s 6th District, put out a press release claiming that she’d brought in “nearly $550,000” in “the first 100 days” of her campaign. However, Handel’s own FEC report shows that she’s taken in just $448,000 during this entire election cycle, including an unimpressive $210,000 in the second quarter of 2019.
So how is Handel calculating this borked math? Just as in April, she’s pretending that the $88,000 she had left over after her 2018 defeat is money she raised in 2019. But as we explained back then, that’s not how any of this works. Money raised during the 2018 cycle, which ended well over 100 days ago, is simply leftover cash from a previous race, not money raised during this race.
What’s more, even these fake numbers don’t add up! You’ll notice that $448,000 plus $88,000 equals $536,000. That’s not “nearly” $550,000—you don’t get to round up to the closest $50,000.
So once again: Karen Handel has not raised “nearly $550,000” this year. She’s raised $448,000. McBath, meanwhile, raised $1.3 million during the first six months of this year, which includes almost $550,000 she brought in from April to June, and holds a $929,000 to $488,000 cash-on-hand lead over her old rival. That’s a deficit that even Handel’s spin doctors can’t pretend doesn’t exist, though they might want to spend a few bucks to replace those broken calendars and calculators.
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