Nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams admits hiding that it helped campaign for her: report

A nonprofit has admitted it hid its efforts to campaign for its founder: Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who made history as the first Black woman to be nominated by a major party for governor.

Abrams, who served in the state House of Representatives for more than a decade — including seven as minority leader — gained national fame when her surging campaign nearly defeated Brian Kemp in 2018, losing by just 54,723 votes. She lost again in a rematch to Kemp in 2022.

On Wednesday, the group New Georgia Project admitted it paid for fliers and doorknockers who openly supported Abrams and other Democrats in 2018, violating state law, The New York Times reported. Abrams founded the group in 2013 and left in 2017.

Federal law bars nonprofit charities from campaigning for candidates. However, this case was in violation of state law, the Times noted.

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The organization, along with the New Georgia Project Action Fund, both said they failed to register with the state as a political committee. Both must pay $300,000 in fines.

David Emadi, executive director of the state ethics commission, told the Times it was the largest fine in the commission's nearly four-decade history.

“They’re now admitting everything we said was true,” Emadi told the Times.

Stacey told the paper she hasn’t been involved in the organization’s work since leaving in 2017. Staffers with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) — who led the organization at the time — said that while he led the New Georgia Project during Abrams' campaign, "compliance decisions were not a part of that work."