‘Misleading voters’: Ossoff warns donors he’s falling behind despite leading Senate fundraising

Sen. Jon Ossoff is warning supporters that his campaign is falling behind and needs more money to keep its ads on the air, despite having one of the largest campaign war chests in the country.

The Georgia Democrat has raised $68.7 million since 2025, slightly more than Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, the next highest fundraiser, who brought in $65.9 million after launching his campaign in September 2025. While securing massive donation hauls, Ossoff’s campaign has simultaneously told prospective donors that it needs money to keep ads running and that it is consistently behind on its fundraising goals.

In July alone, the Ossoff campaign — which the most recent available disclosures show to have $42.6 million in cash on hand — sent multiple emails to supporters claiming that it urgently needs money to keep its advertising push going.

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Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 9, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

"$5 to keep us on the air," the subject line of a July 2 email reads, according to archive records. 

"And the more donations we receive right now, the further we can spread our message to persuade and turn out the voters we need to win big in November," the body of the email reads. "So I need your help — not just to keep this ad on the air, but to spread our message even further. Will you contribute $5 or whatever you can afford to keep our ad on the air and defeat Trump puppet, Mike Collins?"

A campaign spokeswoman told Fox News Digital when asked about the fundraising that Ossoff faces an extraordinary level of Republican spending because he is the only Democratic senator seeking re-election in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024.

"As the only Democratic Senator up for re-election in a state Trump won in 2024, Senator Ossoff is already facing millions of dollars of Republican spending against him, including an initial $44 million from the leading Republican Super PAC and countless more to come from Republican dark money groups empowered by a recent Supreme Court decision that allows them to open the floodgates for unlimited sums of money to prop up candidates, including scandal-ridden Mike Collins," the spokeswoman said.

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Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during an interview at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Marietta, Georgia. (AP)

Google ad records show that Ossoff is spending millions of dollars on messaging in states besides Georgia — including early presidential primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina as well as swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. The behavior, which is abnormal for Democrats in high-profile Senate races, is fueling speculation that Ossoff may launch a run for the presidency in 2028.

In a June 18 email, Ossoff's campaign told supporters that "it’s looking like we’re on pace to miss our fundraising goals for the month." The campaign made similar claims in April and March, according to archived emails.

Despite these lamentations, a short time later, the campaign said it has an "unstoppable grassroots momentum" after its fundraising numbers were publicly released.

"Jon Ossoff is misleading voters as he prepares to ditch Georgia for a shot at the White House," National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Bernadette Breslin told Fox News Digital. "But no amount of out-of-state ad spending can erase his failed record — from enabling Joe Biden’s reckless spending agenda to supporting open-border policies that allowed Laken Riley’s killer to roam free."

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While Ossoff has raised over 10 times more than GOP Senate nominee Rep. Mike Collins has this year, national Republican committees, such as the NRSC, have brought in significantly more cash than their Democratic counterparts.

These national committees have already pledged tens of millions of dollars to defeating Ossoff. Outside groups spent over $170 million against Ossoff and in support of his GOP opponent during the 2020 general and 2021 run-off elections in Georgia, leaving some expecting a similarly expensive race in 2026.

A recent Supreme Court case has also granted political parties greater leeway in coordinating their spending with individual candidates, which has been characterized as a victory for Republicans.

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Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, who's running for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event, on June 14, 2026 in Woodstock, Georgia (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The fundraising emails reviewed by Fox News Digital for this story appear in the Archive of Political Emails, a project run by the right-of-center Defending Democracy Together Institute. 

Screenshots of fundraising texts from the Ossoff campaign have also circulated on social media, attracting criticism from some given the significant financial resources already available to it.

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(Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"This Ossoff mf texted me two days ago that he had no money," one anonymous X user posted, responding to a screenshot showing the nearly $100 million he has raised since 2021. The user then posted a screenshot of a text message they reportedly received from the Ossoff campaign where it claimed to be behind on its fundraising goals.

"Jon you have a bajillion dollars what are you talking about," the user texted back.

"He was BEGGING too," another user responded, posting a picture of a separate reported fundraising text they received from Ossoff’s campaign.

Beyond emails to supporters, the Ossoff campaign has also publicly complained that it needs more money.

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Most polls for Georgia’s Senate election, including those funded by Republicans, show Ossoff leading Collins.