A leadership committee law, passed in part by the GOP-led Georgia legislature to give its party the upper hand in fundraising, is paying off big for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.
When Abrams ran for governor against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018, she spent a record $27 million, outraising Kemp despite the state being reliably red for nearly two decades. Kemp narrowly won the race. This year’s November matchup between the two political foes is arguably the most watched gubernatorial contest in the country.
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Following her loss to Kemp in 2018, Abrams founded Fair Fight, which morphed into a national fundraising machine, bringing in more than $100 million to help fuel Democratic election efforts during the 2020 elections. Fair Fight was instrumental in flipping two Georgia GOP-held U.S. Senate seats blue.
Republican lawmakers responded by passing legislation that would allow the governor, the opposing party’s gubernatorial nominee, the lieutenant governor nominees, and party caucuses to create special leadership committees to raise as much money as they could without limits for individual donors.
Democrats largely opposed the measure, arguing it gave unfair advantages to a few top politicians and allowed lobbyists and special interest groups to write unlimited checks to top state officials during legislative sessions.
The new rule also gave Kemp an added edge because challengers could not create a fund until they won their nomination in May. Kemp created his committee and started to fill his campaign coffer as soon as the bill became law, giving him a significant head start before any challengers began their efforts.
The new law also came under scrutiny because it allows leadership committees to coordinate their activities with a candidate’s campaign, which is strictly off limits under Georgia law for political action committees.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday that as of June 30, the law has actually helped Abrams rather than hurt her. In fact, it helped her a lot more than it helped Kemp. Of the $27 million raised by leadership committees as of June 30, $18.5 million had been taken in by the Democrat’s OneGeorgia fund to help Abrams. Georgians First, which benefits Kemp, brought in $7.6 million.
Other state Democrats didn’t fare as well.
Advancing Conservative Values, which gives money to House Republicans, brought in $631,000, while Georgia Blue, which raises funds for House Democrats, brought in $294,000. Citizens for a Greater Georgia, which gives money to Senate Republicans, pulled in $442,188, while its Democratic counterpart, Georgia Senate Majority Defense Fund, raised $229,971.
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Rick Thompson, a member of the State Ethics Commission, predicted a lot more money is likely to be thrown into the competitive governor’s race.
“Do I think there is going to be tons of money on both sides? Without a doubt,” Thompson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I would be surprised if there weren’t a lot of money coming into these leadership committees this fall.”
