Austin Scott
RIncumbentFEC H0GA08099
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Raised this cycle$1.4M
Cash on hand: $1.3M
2026 race
GA-08 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Austin Scott.
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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Georgia Secretary of State.
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Disclosed money in race
$1.4M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Kelly Esti
DChallengerFEC H6GA08138
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Raised this cycle$28K
Cash on hand: $4K
3 defeated candidates — show
Justin Lucas
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6GA08153
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Vinson Watkins
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H4GA08125
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $138
Justin Lucas
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6GA08146
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on GA-08 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Austin Scottleans negative
0 pos7 neutral1 neg8 articles
Kelly Estilimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$1.4M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$1.4M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$2K
$0 for · $2K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Austin Scott(R)incumbent − MAHA PAC $2K | $1.4M | — | $2K | $1.4M |
Kelly Esti(D) | $28K | — | — | $28K |
3 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Justin Lucas(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Vinson Watkins(R)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Justin Lucas(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside GA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Austin Scott(R)70% in-state · $392K itemized
$275K in-state$117K out-of-state
Kelly Esti(D)100% in-state · $3K itemized
$3K in-state$0 out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.