House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who grew up in Baltimore, will headline a virtual Democratic fundraising event Monday night for Georgia’s pivotal Senate runoff, according to former Baltimore County Executive Ted Venetoulis.
Venetoulis, who served as the county executive between 1974 and 1978, is among the hosts of the 7:30 p.m. event to raise money for Georgia’s Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff, which will decide control of the Senate. Both of Georgia’s Senate seats are up for grabs, with Democrat Jon Ossoff running against Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Raphael Warnock running against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
With Democratic President-elect Joe Biden set to take office in January and Democrats maintaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, these two seats would give Democrats control of Congress and the White House. If both Democrats win, the Senate would be split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote.
“Everyone in town, certainly Democrats in town and others want to help,” Venetoulis said. “Everyone realizes how critical it is to the Biden administration to be able to secure their policies and programs.”
Among those listed as hosts of the event on the flyer include House Majority Leader and U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, Baltimore Mayor-elect Brandon Scott, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Maryland U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin. Maryland U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen will also join, Venetoulis said, along with much of the Maryland Congressional Delegation.
Suggested giving levels start at $500 and go up to $15,600, according to a flyer for the event.
The funds can help Democrats’ ground game in Georgia, Venetoulis said.
“Getting the vote out is the critical element there. You need financial resources to do that,” Venetoulis said. “The more money they can get from outside of the district, which is essentially what the Republicans are doing, the more they can invest in their ground game and in their own campaign. It is critical.”
RSVPs can be sent to khote@dscc.org.