Georgia Senate Republican leaders announced new fundraising committees Monday, including one that will partner with ex-U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler ahead of the 2022 elections.
The funds, called leadership committees, came out of legislation passed last year by the GOP majority that allows Gov. Brian Kemp, along with the eventual Democratic gubernatorial nominee and party leaders in both chambers to create entities that can raise money during legislative sessions and ignore the contribution limits placed on candidates.
Statewide elected officials and lawmakers aren’t allowed to raise money during sessions and have limits on how much they can take from individuals, businesses and political action committees.
Most state lawmakers and challengers are not allowed to create leadership funds. Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who is challenging Kemp in the May Republican primary, sued over the leadership committee law, arguing that it gives the incumbent a massive fundraising advantage. A federal judge ruled Kemp can’t use leadership committee money in the primary going forward but did not throw out the law.
The Senate GOP committees, Citizens for a Greater Georgia and the Georgia Republican Senatorial Committee, aim to grow the party’s majority in the chamber.
One of the committees will partner with Loeffler, who has been raising money to help GOP efforts since shortly after losing her U.S. Senate seat in January 2021. A press release announcing the committee said it will “immediately begin to build a seven-figure, statewide field operation to support conservative candidates with full-time staff and resources ahead of November. “
Since the Republican majority in the House and Senate redrew voting lines to their advantage in November, the GOP is expected to continue to control the General Assembly after the elections this fall.
“Together, we’re building a statewide apparatus that will stop the tide of the blue wave, and make important gains for the GOP at the local level – so that every Georgia family can continue to grow and prosper under strong, Republican leadership,” said Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, Senate majority caucus chairman and head of Citizens for a Greater Georgia.
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