Once a powerhouse, Abrams-founded New Georgia Project roiled by turmoil and layoffs

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

New Georgia Project’s struggles peaked last month when it was slapped with a $300,000 fine — the largest ever for violating Georgia campaign finance laws — for illegally supporting Abrams’ first gubernatorial bid in 2018. NGP carried out another round of layoffs — its second since the election — last week.

The organization, chaired by veteran Democratic activist Francys Johnson, said in a statement it still was a potent force despite its struggles. The statement said NGP helped register more than 55,000 new voters and knocked on 840,000 doors across Georgia during last year’s campaign.

“The volunteers, members and staff of NGP are family, and reductions in staffing are never easy,” the group said in the statement. “Nevertheless, NGP must meet its obligation to align its staffing plan with available resources to accomplish its mission.”

But interviews with a half-dozen current and former staffers revealed deeper concerns about the group’s trajectory.

Credit: Christina Matacotta for the AJC

Credit: Christina Matacotta for the AJC

Eric Robertson, a longtime political organizer who has worked on and off with the group since 2018, rejoined in 2023 to lead its “Peanut Gallery” election monitoring program — until he was let go last week.

He described NGP as a shadow of its former self during the last campaign — and that its weakened operations damaged Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of keeping Georgia in the Democratic column.

“We knocked 800,000 doors in 2024. That’s compared to about 3 million doors that we knocked on during each of the last two statewide elections,” Robertson said of the campaigns in 2020 and 2022, which also featured high-stakes U.S. Senate races.

He blamed Johnson, who declined comment, and other leaders for mismanaging resources.

“The progressive infrastructure in Georgia is not decaying. It’s being killed by mistakes and deliberate actions. And that’s enraging to me,” he said. “We had so much potential to win Georgia last year. And we’re still a battleground state in 2026.”

Credit: Rebecca Wright for the AJC

Credit: Rebecca Wright for the AJC

In a statement, NGP said it went “all out to engage as many Georgians as possible, and that remains its focus.”

“Despite recent changes, NGP remains one of Georgia’s largest progressive civic engagement organizations, registering nearly one thousand citizens each week and holding thousands of conversations in communities across the state,” the organization said.

‘Exploited’

But NGP has been plagued by instability for years.

The group launched an internal investigation of its finances in 2023 amid allegations of financial irregularities, Politico reported. And the nonprofit journalism outlet Capital B disclosed last year that four executives resigned or were dismissed over a six-month span due to organizational strife.

Johnson and the project’s leaders won’t say how many staffers were laid off since the election. But Stephanie Ali, the group’s policy director, wrote in a GoFundMe appeal that 19 staffers were laid off on Dec. 27 and another 12 were cut Jan. 28.

“Our beloved community is more than *just* the great work we do,” she wrote. “We are also caretakers for medically fragile partners. We are cancer patients currently in treatment. We are parents. We are new homeowners.”

Jon’Luk Young, who had worked at the NGP since 2017, was no stranger to the pains of postelection layoffs at political organizations. But after being fired last week, Young said poor leadership made the cuts more severe than necessary.

“I helped build this organization. I was out in the rain, snow and heat to mobilize Georgians. And we were expecting our leader to hold it down,” Young said. “I felt like I was doing God’s work, and it helped me put food on our table. But we were working under a demon.”

Klaire Gumbs, who worked at NGP since 2020, was also abruptly laid off last week and given notice her health care coverage would expire in days. What angers her most, she said, is that NGP failed to uphold the ideals it championed.

“I feel exploited,” she said. “I had been with the organization for four years and ran the economic justice campaign, which advocated for higher pay and more rights. And I was let go with none of the rights I advocated for.”

Now, prominent Democrats with deep ties to the organization are making clear they’re no longer involved.

Warnock, who led the NGP in 2018 at the time of the ethics infractions, distanced himself after the fine in a statement that said “compliance decisions” were not a part of his work at the group. He stepped down as the organization’s board chair before he launched his 2020 U.S. Senate campaign.

Abrams, too, has sought to draw a clear line between herself and the group’s current leadership. A decade ago, her role in founding NGP cemented her national reputation as a voting rights advocate and boosted her gubernatorial bid. Democrats credited the organization with driving record voter registration that nearly put her in the Governor’s Mansion.

Now, Abrams is emphasizing that she moved on long ago.

“The setbacks at New Georgia Project are disappointing and my thoughts are with those laid off,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement that noted the NGP took on “new leadership and a new legal entity” after she left in 2017 to run for governor.

“Regardless of the structure, I will never stop believing in the mission of ensuring every Georgian can make their voice heard,” she added. “This is critical work, and I’m glad so many Georgians continue to carry that torch.”