Ossoff, the Democrat, announced last week that he had raised $8.3 million, a staggering sum for any candidate over the course of a full election cycle, much less a political neophyte in a two-month–long special election. Though in his recent 48-hour financial report, only one in 15 contributions came from the state of Georgia, per one calculation.

It’s a sum that leaves both Republicans and Democrats talking of this moment in politics as almost supernatural.

“$8.3 million can make a squirrel competitive,” said Karen Handel, the former Georgia secretary of state and Senate candidate who is just one of 11 Republicans running in an all-party primary with Ossoff. Asked why a Democrat is so competitive in such a Republican district, Handel added: “Look, I have no idea.”

“If a guy’s gonna raise $8.3 million in a 19-person race as a 30-year-old in 55 days, something bigger is going on than what we can control,” said Georgia Republican consultant Chip Lake.