Stacey Abrams, the two-time failed Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, saw the nonprofit she founded before running for office hit with a massive six-figure fine over election law violations — one that ethics watchdogs say is the largest in state history.
David Emadi, executive director of Georgia’s ethics commission, said the $300,000 fine levied against Abrams and the leaders of the New Georgia Project is the largest in the commission’s 38-year history. This underlines how drastically the voter registration group schemed to illegally boost Abrams’s long-shot rematch against Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022. The progressive darling benefited from a host of voter registration activities targeting minority communities ahead of Election Day.
In 2013, Abrams established and helmed the New Georgia Project, and following her 2018 loss, the group capitalized on Abrams’ national recognition from her first race to raise about $3.2 million and put the state’s Democratic Party on a more successful course, which ultimately led to the election of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) — who helped the New Georgia Project at the time of the violations — and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in 2020.
Many of the group’s bills were paid for canvassers and flyers printed to support Abrams directly.
“We are glad to finally put this matter behind us so the New Georgia Project can fully devote its time and attention to its efforts to civically engage and register black, brown, and young voters in Georgia,” Aria Branch, counsel to the nonprofit, told the New York Post in a statement.
“We accept this outcome and are eager to turn the page on activities that took place more than five years ago.”
A spokesman for Sen. Warnock denied any suggestion that he made financial decisions for the group.
“In this role, Reverend Warnock continued his work as a longtime champion for voting rights. Compliance decisions were not a part of that work,” Warnock spokesperson Michael Brewer told the outlet.
In addition to making illegal in-kind donations to Abrams, the group failed to register as an independent campaign committee in violation of state election laws. The ethics commission concluded that there were a total of 16 violations.
In 2019, one year after the governor’s race, the New Georgia Project received a swell of donations totaling $646,000 and raised $174,000 to back a failed local referendum, both sums that the group failed to divulge.
For six years, the group has fought the charges, excusing its spending as similar to that of other electoral nonprofits in the run-up to Election Day. Leaders also accused the ethics commission—comprised of one Democrat and four Republicans—of conducting a politicized investigation.
Another outside group, Gente for Abrams, was slapped with a $50,000 fine in 2020 for failing to disclose many of its activities surrounding her 2018 campaign.
Abrams, 51, infamously refused to concede the race to Kemp after losing by 1.4 points, only to run again in 2022 and see her margin of loss extend to 7.5 points. In recent interviews, she has left the door open to a third gubernatorial run in 2026.
