When then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler ran against the Rev. Raphael Warnock in 2020, the one-time financial tech executive said she found a Republican campaign infrastructure underfunded and stuck in the past, particularly when it came to technology, fundraising and field operations.
But instead of returning to her former business career after losing to Warnock, Loeffler has spent the last three years building the kind of support for GOP campaigns she said was missing.
Her Greater Georgia voter registration nonprofit is well known, but Loeffler shared this week that she has also quietly developed and deployed a for-profit technology startup called RallyRight. It provides field operations and payment processing services for GOP campaigns across the country.
“I came into politics and said too many times this is not what you would do in business. And when I’m done with this, whatever it is, we’re going to work on changing it,” she said in an interview.
DonateRight is the company’s donation processing platform, which Loeffler designed to protect proprietary donor data, while FieldRight provides on-demand field workers, training, payment and background checks for campaigns and ballot initiatives from the local to federal levels.
The platform has already been used by campaigns in 26 states. Both features are designed to address the flaws and shortcomings Loeffler said she encountered on the right as a candidate and donor and now as an activist.
“I saw firsthand in 2020, there were groups that said they’d be here for us, they’d have our field program, and they didn’t,” she said. “We quickly set up a statewide field program to backfill for that, but … we want to make sure that campaigns know that there’s another option.”
Loeffler is the sole investor in the company, which she said is designed to use technology to make field and other tech services financially accessible to smaller campaigns.
“You have an on-demand driver when you want to go out and on-demand groceries when you’re missing ingredients for dinner. Why not have an on-demand field program?” she said.
The news about RallyRight comes as Republicans across the state are eager to know what Loeffler’s own plans are for mounting another statewide campaign, possibly in 2026. While Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Attorney General Chris Carr are widely considered to be contenders for the open race to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, Loeffler’s personal fortune and growing grassroots clout make her an immediate top-tier candidate.
People close to Loeffler said she is not yet looking past 2024.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. The scene at the state Capitol had a “they’re baaack” quality to it Monday as lawmakers opened the 2024 session just weeks after the close of a special session focused on redistricting.
On the Monday edition of the “Politically Georgia” radio show, the AJC’s Bill Nigut and Tia Mitchell previewed the issues expected to be at the forefront of debate in the months ahead, such as Medicaid expansion, private school vouchers and legislation that would establish a definition of antisemitism.
Catch up on that episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. And listen to Tuesday’s show live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.
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HOUSE MOVES. A vulnerable Republican state legislator who represents a slice of Gwinnett County just picked up a formidable challenger.
Democrat Michelle Kang announced Tuesday she will compete against state Rep. Matt Reeves, a Duluth Republican who flipped the seat that spans parts of Duluth, Sugar Hill and Suwanee in 2022.
Credit: Anjali Huynh/AJC
Credit: Anjali Huynh/AJC
Kang, a fixture in the Korean American community, focused her campaign launch on pledges to expand abortion rights and lower housing costs.
“I am running for office to represent all of my neighbors regardless of their income, race, religion, or the language they speak at home,” she said.
Kang entered the race with the endorsement of Om Duggal, the Democrat who Reeves defeated in 2022.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
GUNS AND AMMO. State Sen. Jason Anavitarte plans to again push his measure to create an annual 11-day sales tax break for purchases of guns, ammunition, firearms accessories and gun safes.
A fiscal note released Monday for what Anavitarte, R-Dallas, calls the “Second Amendment Tax Holiday Act” showed that it would cost state and local governments — and save taxpayers — at least $2.3 million a year.
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Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
WILLIS ON THE DEFENSIVE. As Republican state lawmakers prep a revision to the 2022 law created to punish “rogue” prosecutors, the state’s highest-profile district attorney, Fulton County’s Fani Willis, is facing a scandal.
The AJC’s Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman report a court motion filed Monday alleges Willis improperly hired a romantic partner to prosecute former President Donald Trump and his allies in the ongoing 2020 election interference case. The filing, made on behalf of former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, seeks to have charges against Roman dismissed and Willis and her office disqualified from further prosecuting the case.
The news comes as the General Assembly takes up a bill that outlines rules and regulations for the prosecutors oversight commission, which has been idled since the state Supreme Court ruled it lacked the authority to set standards for the panel. Complaints about Willis and her prosecution of the Trump case have already been filed with the commission.
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Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
- 1 p.m.: The House gavels in.
- 1 p.m.: Committee hearings begin.
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EGGS RIDES. Looking for an easier way to get to the Georgia Chamber’s annual Eggs & Issues breakfast on Wednesday?
MARTA will be previewing its new bus rapid transit system with rides from the Coverdell Legislative Office Building to Mercedes Benz Stadium every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 7:45 a.m.
Return trips to the Capitol will begin at 10:30 a.m. The last bus departs at 11:45 a.m.
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Credit: Jenn Finch for the AJC
Credit: Jenn Finch for the AJC
LESS FIGHT. The one-time political fundraising juggernaut Fair Fight Action is landing fewer punches these days, according to campaign finance disclosures. The political action committee arm of the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams reported raising $1.86 million during the previous six months and had $923,000 in the bank.
Those figures are still impressive for a Georgia PAC and our campaign finance guy James Salzer notes that Fair Fight still gets thousands of small, recurring contributions from donors. Yet the haul is down from the days when Fair Fight was setting fundraising records and prompting Republicans to pass a law allowing Gov. Brian Kemp and a few select others to create leadership committees, which let them raise funds unhindered by caps on individual donations.
Salzer reports the group spent $2.4 million during that period, about half of which went to Fair Fight, which spent years battling the state in court over its voting laws.
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FEC FINES GREENE. The Federal Election Commission has fined U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene $12,000 after finding she broke the rules while fundraising on behalf of then-Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in 2020.
Republicans Loeffler and Perdue ultimately lost to Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s U.S. Senate contests. Greene, R-Rome, posted solicitations on her social media accounts asking supporters to donate to her Stop Socialism Now PAC, saying the money would be used to boost the GOP candidates.
Common Cause, a Washington watchdog group, filed a complaint in May 2021 accusing Greene of using the PAC to solicit unlimited contributions, the Daily Beast reported. The FEC recently ruled in the group’s favor, determining that since Greene was backing specific candidates she should have adhered to rules capping the amount of money individuals can donate to the candidates and barring her from collecting money from unions or corporations.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden has no public events on his schedule.
- The House returns for a quorum call this evening to start the 2024 session.
- The Senate has confirmation votes lined up.
- A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears oral arguments from lawyers for former President Donald Trump, who has claimed he should be immune from prosecution on charges his behavior contributed to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
TODAY MAKES 10. When Air Force 2 lands at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport today, it will mark Vice President Kamala Harris’ 10th trip to Georgia since being sworn into office.
Harris is also returning to a familiar theme — voting rights — which was also the focus of major speeches she and President Joe Biden delivered in Atlanta in January 2022 and January 2023.
Voting rights advocates are at a low point in Georgia after a string of legal setbacks, new threats from GOP lawmakers in the General Assembly and the failure to pass federal legislation in Congress.
Several prominent voting rights champions will join Harris at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta for a forum. Among the participants are New Georgia Project CEO Kendra Davenport Cotton, Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta.
It’s not clear whether Harris has other stops planned while she’s in Atlanta — she swung by Busy Bee Cafe when she was in town a few weeks ago. But we’ll have coverage of her visit on AJC.com.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. In a political world full of attention hogs, let’s meet Purrito Adams, the tree-dwelling feline of Politically Georgia newsletter subscriber Normer Adams.
A reliable source tells us that Purrito is in his tree patiently waiting to be named Dog of the Day.
Purrito, your wait is over. For proving that subtlety is not completely dead, you are our Dog of the Day!
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and location, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
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