Jones is following in the footsteps of Gov. Brian Kemp, who ran for governor in 2018 initially as an outside-the-Capitol candidate and, after winning the GOP primary, quickly attracted millions of dollars from traditional Statehouse donors — lobbyists, business associations, state contractors and wealthy company owners with a stake in what goes on under the Gold Dome.

Martin, who has lobbied at the Capitol for about 40 years and has among the longest client lists in the Statehouse, said the contributions are a sort of bet on the election’s outcome.

“Bottom line is ... our clients want to know who is going to win,” Martin said. “It’s always easier to raise money for the candidate you think is going to win.”

Neill Herring, who has lobbied at the Capitol for the Sierra Club for decades, dubbed it the “stampede effect.”

“They don’t want to be caught giving something to somebody with no power. Why take a chance?” said Herring, who doesn’t donate to candidates. “If you are part of a herd, it’s better to be one among many wrong than among the few that were right.”

In a review of campaign disclosure reports filed in July and early October, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that dozens of lobby groups contributed to Jones’ campaign after he won the primary.

Most of the special interests have given to Kemp and Jones, almost none to Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams or Bailey.

The contrast is greater than in the legislative leadership funds, where many in the Capitol crowd have given to both Republican and Democratic committees.

Abrams, a champion fundraiser in the past two governor’s contests in Georgia, receives about 90% of her campaign funding from outside the state. That has made her a target of Republicans who call her the candidate of Hollywood elites and limousine liberals, even though she’s also set records for the number of individual donors, many of whom give closer to $10 or $20 at a time.

Kemp and Jones, meanwhile, have received more of their money from inside the state, and particularly from around where they practice politics when they aren’t running for office.

In the most recent reporting period for which records were available — ending Sept. 30 — Kemp’s leadership committee raised more than $2.5 million from lobby firms, business associations they represent, state contractors and company owners looking to pass legislation.

At least half of the money Jones’ leadership committee has raised has come from the Statehouse crowd or their clients. And his separate campaign fund raised about $400,000 from such special interests after he bested Miller in the Republican primary.

Nonpartisan checks

It’s not an issue of party. When Democrats Zell Miller and Roy Barnes were running for governor in the 1990s through 2002, people like Martin and groups such as the auto dealers lobby and highway contractors loaded up donations to their campaigns.

Democrats were in charge of every office at the time, and special interests knew who could help them or hurt them.

When you picked the wrong candidate, it could cost you dearly, both financially and in terms of passing legislation.

Martin remembers in 1990 when powerful House Speaker Tom Murphy backed Lauren “Bubba” McDonald for governor in the Democratic primary. Nobody at the Statehouse wanted to be on Murphy’s bad side. But McDonald got about 6% of the vote, and Miller eventually won in a runoff. That meant any Capitol interest who had backed Murphy’s candidate had to try to make up with the future governor.

Twelve years later, lobbyists were slipping checks under the door of Republican Sonny Perdue’s campaign headquarters the night he upset Barnes, becoming the state’s first GOP governor since Reconstruction.

Lobbyists and business associations aren’t the only ones with connections giving to the incumbents. Democrats say Kemp’s campaigns have collected $4 million from people he appointed to various state boards, much of it from members of the coveted panels that run the University System of Georgia, recommend judges for him to appoint and govern the Department of Economic Development.

In the months before they were appointed by Kemp to the Board of Regents, two new members and their families donated about $300,000 to his campaign efforts. They recently chipped in an additional $150,000.

But it’s the lobbyists and business groups with a lot at stake during General Assembly sessions who are most eager to make nice with incumbents or those they expect to win.

New car dealers — whom Martin represents — have fought for years to make sure electric-vehicle manufacturers such as Rivian, which is planning to operate a plant east of Atlanta, are not allowed to sell directly to Georgia consumers. Tesla has a small exception, but others still have to sell their vehicles through car dealers.

Earlier this year, the car dealers’ lobby put its campaign donations behind Miller in his bid for lieutenant governor. Miller had been credited with helping to stall the direct-to-consumer bills, which opponents say would hurt important employers in many small communities.

In the latest campaign filings available, the group gave $7,600 to Jones’ campaign, along with an additional $50,000 to his leadership committee. Jones had initially signed onto the pro-Rivian legislation this year before removing his name from the list of backers.

The dealers have also donated to Kemp’s campaign and leadership committee. Individual car dealers also gave big money to both candidates’ leadership committees.

The horse racing lobby — hoping to win legislative approval for horse tracks in Georgia — gave $15,000 to Kemp’s leadership committee and $50,000 to Jones’ during the three-month reporting period that ended Sept. 30. The campaigns received big contributions from the coin-operated gaming industry — which has faced new regulation legislation in recent years — and the film industry, which has a big stake in protecting massive tax breaks.

Herring, the environmental lobbyist, said of the special-interest contributions: “I think it is mostly defensive. They won’t want to take a chance and tick somebody off when they have a project going. And they’ve always got a project going.”

Martin said some of his clients — particularly out-of-state companies — were skittish about donating to Jones and other candidates because of their role in supporting Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“They are tuned into this election integrity stuff, and they aren’t excited at all about giving,” he said. “They have expressed concerns about those candidates, particularly Jones.”

While most of the betting money at the Capitol is on Kemp and Jones, Martin acknowledged that the lobbyists will be spending serious “make-up” money donating to Democratic challengers if they wind up winning the election.

Herring said of Abrams, “If she wins, Trip and them are all going to be writing big checks to her.”

Betting on a favorite

Top donors to Sen. Burt Jones’ lieutenant governor leadership committee between July 1 and Sept. 30, after he won the GOP primary:

Republican State Leadership Committee (Washington) — $275,000

New car dealers lobby PAC — $50,0000

Horse racing lobby PAC — $50,000

Take Back Georgia committee (mostly funded by a Donald Trump PAC) — $50,000

O’Kelley & Sorohan attorneys at law (Duluth) — $40,000

Source: Jones leadership committee filing