Two primaries, and maybe a third primary, will involve more money than most of the general election campaigns in Georgia. The two most expensive primaries in Georgia will oddly enough be Republican Primaries for Congressional seats opened up by incumbents seeking higher office. With Washington, D.C. PACs and pundits quick to pick a favorite based on the early financial reports, the pressure is one for the challengers to raise money and raise it quickly.

Undoubtedly, the various campaigns already have learned some hard lessons about fundraising under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Toughest sledding so far appears to be in the Eighth Congressional District Republican Primary to replace Congressman Mac Collins. The challengers are Georgia House Minority Leader Lynn Westmoreland and Georgia Senator Mike Crotts.

So far, the race is not much of one. Senator Crotts has yet to get out of the gate with an FEC filing. On the other hand, Minority Leader Lynn Westmoreland has made quick work of converting his political investments in last year’s Republican victories into cash on hand in his bid for Congress. In the short time that he has been in the race, Westmoreland has cracked the $190,000 mark and should be well over $200,000 by now. Absent some credible Democratic candidate in November, Westmoreland will undoubtedly spend it all, plus some, to lock down the Republican nomination.

Westmoreland’s success has been followed by his colleague from the Georgia Senate in a bid to win the nomination in the Sixth Congressional District to replace Congressman Johnny Isakson. Georgia Senator Tom Price, the Majority Leader in the Georgia Senate, has lead all challengers in the fundraising battle with over $210,000 raised. While the amount is notable, the real story for Tom Price is the speed with which he raised it. There is little question that he is on target to raise the expected $1.1 million to win the Republican Primary in the Sixth Congressional District.

After Price, two Georgia Senators are in close competition. Georgia Senator Chuck Clay (and former Georgia GOP Chairman) has raised over $100,000. Similarly, Georgia Senator Robert Lamutt, has collected almost $100,000 (with a sizable amount from Georgia Senator Lamutt’s personal funds). John McCallum made a surprising showing with a campaign balance of $62,050. Georgia Representative Roger Hines reported less than $1,500.

For average Georgians, $100,000-$200,000 is a lot of money. Projections are that the amount spent on just the Sixth and Eighth Congressional races will exceed $3 million. Yet, these numbers pale in comparison to the total dollars raised and to be raised in connection with the Congressional elections. Already, $604.6 million has been reported with the FEC for Congressional elections (both House and Senate) as raised from January 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002. For just the House races, campaigns reported raising $402.4 million with a total cash balance of $263.1 million as June 30.

Of course, none of these numbers reflect the impact of a Presidential race. The full effect of the Presidential factor will be seen once the President moves into full swing on behalf of candidates in his bid to not just win reelection, but also retain control of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.