by Atlanta (AP) On Thursday, a prominent Republican candidate for Georgia governor filed a lawsuit against the other front-runner, contesting the legitimacy of the opponent’s campaign contributions.
In a federal court in Atlanta, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carrued Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, requesting that a judge permanently bar Jones from using the Jones Leadership Committee, a unique fundraising vehicle that gives Georgia’s governor, lieutenant governor, and legislative leaders the ability to raise an unlimited amount of money.
Among those vying for the Republican nomination to replace term-limited Governor Brian Kemp are Jones and Carr. The general election in November 2026, which is anticipated to be one of the most costly gubernatorial contests in the nation, will take place after the GOP primary in May of next year.
By establishing a campaign funding system that benefits Jones and restricts Carr’s campaign spending, Carr claims the leadership committee has violated both his First Amendment right to free expression and his 14th Amendment right to equal protection. Carr and other candidates are not granted access to the fundraising vehicle by the 2021 state statute that established leadership committees. As an alternative, Carr has a standard campaign committee that can only raise $8,400 from each contributor for his primary campaign and an additional $4,200 for any primary runoff.
According to Carr spokesman Julia Mazzone, Jones is abusing his position to raise six-figure checks during legislative sessions, circumvent contribution restrictions, and use a mechanism that only he can access to channel limitless funds into a competitive primary.
Because Carr’s office in 2022 supported the same bill he is now contesting, Jones campaign spokesperson Kendyl Parker referred to Carr as a hypocrite. Carr has maintained that, regardless of his personal opinion of the challenged statutes, the attorney general must defend them. The content of Carr’s claim was not discussed by Parker.
Last year, Carr declared his intention to run for governor, stating that he needed more time to raise funds because he is not personally wealthy. For months, Carr’s team has expressed worries that Jones will utilize his family fortune and leadership committee to win the primary. The state Ethics Commission rejected the Carr campaign’s request to look into the origin of a $10 million loan that Jones gave to his leadership committee, stating that Carr had not claimed a legal infraction.
During the Republican primary that year, Carr’s campaign referenced a 2022 federal judge’s decision that a Kemp leadership committee was not permitted to spend funds to secure Kemp’s reelection. According to U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen, challenger David Perdue’s First Amendment right to free speech was infringed by the unfair campaign fundraising system.
Carr, meanwhile, wants to impose far more stringent limitations on the Jones leadership committee than Cohen did. With the caveat that Kemp could not use the funds to attack Perdue, Cohen permitted Kemp to continue collecting money for the leadership committee. Carr, however, wants a judge to halt spending and fundraising until after the primary.
Additionally, he requests that a federal magistrate judge be assigned to supervise all committee expenditures and that the Jones regular campaign committee reimburse the leadership committee for any funds it has already spent on Jones’ behalf. Carr requests that the magistrate judge look into the source of Jones’ $10 million loan and order the court to prevent Jones from lending money to his normal campaign committee or contributing any cash to dark money organizations during the primary. Carr cited a financial declaration from 2022 that demonstrated Jones lacked sufficient liquid assets to make such a large loan to his campaign.
Carr’s team is still worried that Jones would raise an infinite amount of money to pay back his loan and then transfer the money to his candidacy committee to use in the primary, claiming that this would violate campaign contribution caps.
Additionally, Carr’s campaign has requested an advisory legal opinion from the Ethics Commission regarding the legality of Jones’ actions.
