Over a decade ago, Stacey Abrams, a Democrat and unsuccessful candidate for Georgia's governorship, established two voter turnout organizations.
These groups, known as the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, had a clear objective: to register predominantly non-white voters who lean towards the Democratic party across Georgia.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock was listed as CEO of the New Georgia Project on corporate filings for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The two groups were highly active, reportedly knocking on millions of doors and registering tens of thousands of voters. Their efforts were seen as instrumental in swinging Georgia towards the Democrats during the 2020 presidential election.
However, as reported by The Blaze, the New Georgia groups, despite their energetic efforts, were marred by corruption and have now been dissolved. A spokesperson for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) stated, "Georgians everywhere can rest easy tonight knowing that there is one less way for Stacey Abrams Inc. to fleece people and get rich."
The New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, which were accused of siding with alleged domestic terrorists in 2023 and campaigning against election integrity initiatives, were hit with a $300,000 fine in January. The Georgia State Ethics Commission stated that this was the largest fine it had ever imposed and possibly "the largest Ethics Fine ever imposed by any State Ethics Commission in the country related to an election and campaign finance case."
The groups admitted to violating 16 state laws, primarily by unlawfully contributing to Abrams' 2018 gubernatorial campaign under the guise of a nonpartisan voter turnout organization. Abrams purportedly severed ties with the groups in 2017.
The ethics commission discovered that the New Georgia Project failed to disclose over $4.2 million in contributions and over $3.2 million in expenditures during the 2018 election cycle. This led House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to call for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate and ultimately revoke the group's tax-exempt status.
The commission stated, "This represents the largest and most significant instance of an organization illegally influencing our statewide elections in Georgia that we have ever discovered," when the fine was imposed.
Following the exposure and admission of their wrongdoings, the lifespan of Abrams' groups was evidently limited. The board of directors for both organizations announced on Thursday that the scandal-ridden groups "will officially dissolve as organizations."
Despite the groups' blatant violation of state law and allegations of unlawfully firing employees in retaliation for their unionization efforts, the board stated, "Reflecting on our journey, we are proud of the milestones we have achieved, the communities we have engaged, and the countless individuals whose lives have been strengthened by our work."
James Woodall, board chair of the New Georgia Project Action Fund, described the news of the groups' dissolution as "difficult," and urged "all who continue in the fight" to "stay grounded, keep the faith, and don't come down from the wall."
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