Billionaire George Soros donated $1M to Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaign just a few days after she qualified to run in March. He donated the funds through a super PAC. Soros made the donation through Democracy PAC II to One Georgia, Abrams’ leadership PAC.
Donating to political candidates got a little complicated this election cycle because of a new law passed by the Georgia Legislature. Last month U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen ruled that Abrams cannot raise money through a leadership committee until she wins the Democrat Party nomination. She is running unopposed.
She and Governor Kemp were both raising money with their leadership PACs before Judge Cohen’s ruling. The ruling tells the candidates that they cannot raise money without limits with the leadership PACs until they are their party’s official candidate. Abrams can use Soros’ money after she is officially named the Democrat candidate after the primary. In other words, she can keep the money in her campaign coffers but she can’t spend it yet. That is according to David Emadi, executive secretary of the state ethics commission.
The leadership committee law that the Republican-led General Assembly passed in 2021 lets the governor, the opposing party’s gubernatorial nominee, the lieutenant governor and party caucuses create special committees to raise as much cash as they can without limits. It gave incumbents an added edge since their challengers can’t use the funds until they win their party’s nomination.
It was designed in part to give Gov. Brian Kemp, who formed his leadership committee in July, a huge fundraising advantage.
However, Cohen also recently ruled that Kemp’s committee had to suspend raising any more money unless he wins his Republican primary because it was unfair that the law allowed only one person in the race to create such a committee before winning the nomination: the governor. Kemp faces former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the GOP primary.
Abrams will be able to use a leadership committee after she wins the nomination.
David Emadi, executive secretary of the state ethics commission, said the Abrams camp can keep the Soros contribution but not spend it until after the primary.
There are limits to how much an individual or business can contribute to a candidate. Leadership PACs get around those limits. They can raise as much money as they can for a candidate. This year Soros is giving his super PAC, Democracy PAC II, $125M to sway elections across the country. He is contributing to both Democrat groups and candidates in the 2022 midterm election cycle. Democracy PAC II is run by his son.
Statewide candidates, such as those running for governor, are currently allowed to raise $7,600 from individual donors for the primary and again for the general election, plus $4,500 per runoff.
In contrast, Kemp’s leadership committee had taken checks up to $250,000 from individual donors in its first few months of operation.
The Soros family gave $1.34 million to the Georgia Democratic Party in 2018, the year Abrams first ran for governor against Kemp.
Soros and Abrams team up to raise money for causes. The billionaire socialist and the sore loser Democrat are currently raising money for abortion groups in light of the leaked draft document from the Supreme Court. Between 2016 and 2020 Soros gave over $25 million to abortion groups.
One area that Soros’ millions have made a real impact is in local races in counties across the country, including district attorneys and prosecutors. Look no further than the mess out in California with lax sentencing and bail bond “reforms” that allow dangerous criminals right back out on the street instead of being held in jail.
