Georgia attorney general suing his opponent in governor’s Republican primary race over campaign financing

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, one of the leading Republican contenders for governor, has filed a lawsuit against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, challenging the legality of his GOP rival’s campaign funding.

Carr asked a federal judge to permanently block Jones’ ability to spend money from his leadership committee, a fundraising tool that allows the state’s governor, lieutenant governor and legislative leaders to raise unlimited funds. 

Both men are leading Republican candidates to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp after next year’s election.

Carr argues that Jones’ leadership committee violates the attorney general’s First Amendment right to free speech and his 14th Amendment right to equal protection by setting up a campaign finance structure that boosts Jones and limits how much Carr can spend on his campaign. A 2021 state law that created leadership committees does not allow Carr or other declared candidates to have access to the fundraising vehicle. 

Carr’s regular campaign committee is limited to raising $8,400 from each donor for his primary campaign and $4,200 for a potential primary runoff.

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Carr campaign spokeswoman Julia Mazzone said in a statement that Jones “is using his position to sidestep contribution limits, raise six-figure checks during legislative sessions and funnel unlimited money into a competitive primary through a structure only he can access.”

“Republicans cannot ignore the cloud of unethical, illegal and corrupt behavior that surrounds Burt Jones,” Mazzone said.

“Leadership committees were never intended to be unregulated campaign machines,” the statement added. “The court has ruled on this before, and the Constitution prohibits exactly what’s happening here. We’re taking action to uphold transparency and accountability standards.”

A Jones campaign spokesperson, meanwhile, has accused Carr of being hypocritical since his office previously defended the same law that he is now challenging in court. Carr has argued that the attorney general must defend challenged laws even if he personally disagrees with them.

“Georgia’s lackluster Attorney General defended this law two years ago,” Kendyl Parker, Jones’ spokeswoman said. “Now, he’s running for governor and wants to challenge the same law he once defended. If hypocrisy were an Olympic sport, he’d take gold.”

Carr launched his gubernatorial bid last year, saying he needed more time to raise money because he is not personally wealthy. His campaign has expressed concerns for months that Jones will use his leadership committee and family wealth to support his primary campaign.

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The Carr campaign has sought to have the state Ethics Commission probe the source of a $10 million loan Jones made to his leadership committee, although the commission declined to launch an investigation, noting that Carr failed to allege a legal violation.

The attorney general’s campaign pointed to U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen’s 2022 ruling that a leadership committee for Kemp could not use money for Kemp’s re-election campaign during that year’s Republican primary. Cohen found that the “unequal campaign finance scheme” violated GOP primary challenger and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s First Amendment right to free speech.

Cohen ruled that Kemp could continue raising money for the leadership committee but said the governor could not spend it against Perdue in the primary.

“Despite full knowledge of this history, Mr. Jones and his leadership committee, WBJ Leadership Committee, Inc., are ignoring this Court’s prior rulings and using a leadership committee—that has no contribution or coordinated spending limits—in a primary election against a candidate without one,” Carr’s lawsuit reads.

Carr is seeking additional restrictions on Jones’ leadership committee than in Cohen’s ruling. The attorney general is asking a judge to cut off both fundraising and spending from the lieutenant governor’s leadership committee until the primary race is over.

He is also requesting that a federal magistrate judge be appointed to oversee all spending by the leadership committee and that Jones’ regular campaign committee repay any money already spent by the leadership committee to support Jones’ gubernatorial run.

“The loan and its amount are significant because Mr. Jones is also able to raise unlimited funds into the leadership committee, then repay the loan from funds raised that then can be applied directly to his campaign account, effectively removing the contribution limits from those dollars,” the lawsuit says.

Carr asks that the court block Jones from giving any cash to dark money groups or making any loans to his regular campaign committee during the primary. He also wants the magistrate judge to probe where Jones’ $10 million loan came from, citing a 2022 financial disclosure showing that Jones did not have enough liquid assets for a loan of that quantity.

The attorney general’s campaign continues to express concern that Jones could raise unlimited money to repay his loan and then give the repaid money to his candidate committee for the primary, arguing that this would wreck campaign contribution restrictions.

“Mr. Jones is raising and spending unlimited amounts of money in the primary—and Mr. Carr is limited in what he can raise by Georgia’s existing campaign contribution limits,” the lawsuit reads. “This Court should level this uneven playing field by preventing Mr. Jones from using his leadership committee during the primary election.”

Carr’s campaign has also called on the Ethics Commission for an advisory legal opinion on whether Jones’ fundraising activity is legal.

The Republican primary will be held in May, and the general election next year in the purple state is expected to be one of the most expensive governor’s races in the country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.