"To acquire money requires valor, to keep money requires prudence, and to spend money well is an art." - Berthold Auerbach
The once powerful fundraiser, Stacy Abram's campaign reports $1.4 million in debt. 1 This news is a year old but has just gotten some daylight on TV and I thought I would learn more about this disaster.
We know that Abrams set fundraising records running for Governor of Georgia against Brian Kemp. One Georgia, a fundraising group that Abrams ran could accept unlimited funds. This leadership group raised more than $113 million. The Group had to report the funds raised to the State Finance Commission.
The largest debt One Georgia owes is about $1.2 million to the media firm AL Media. Another $200,000 to a Washington D.C. consulting firm. Abrams spent almost $54 million with AL Media for digital, TV, and radio advertising — more than any other vendor during the campaign, 2
$100,000 million was still on hand after the election. The Kemp campaign raised $90 million and has approximately $5.2 million left. Abrams outspent Kemp and had much more cash left after she lost than Kemp did, yet she lost by 8 points! 11 Alive learned from a former Abrams staffer that most of Abramse's 180 campaign staff were laid off on November 15, just one week after Governor Kmep beat Abrams by 300,000 votes.
Lauren Groh-Wargo, who served as Abrams' campaign manager during the 2018 and 2022 races, told Axios that negative press and polling made fundraising difficult in the final stretch of the race. 3
Interestingly, other Democrat candidates won their races. John Ossof and Rafael Warnock were elected to the Senate but Stacy Abrams was left in the dust by the well-liked by most and disliked by some incumbent Governor. As it turned out, Kemp did not suffer from his strained relations with Donald Trump. The choice was simple, vote for Kemp, a tried and trusted leader who kept his state solvent through the Pandemic, or choose Stacy Abrams, a fierce revolutionary who would turn Georgia upside down to reach her goals.
“We did not just lose. We got blown out,” Groh-Wargo told Axios. “It was the most sub-optimal situation to be in. And we will be dealing with that situation for some time.” 4
Let's hope Stacey Abrams is gone for good. I can only speculate that an ego like hers will not sit quietly and watch others scramble for the prize she seeks. Like Hillary Clinton, Abrams is not done with us yet. Even with her massive rejection by the voters, she will be back.
Resources
1. Wooten, Nick, Stacey Abrams campaign reports $1.4 million in debt, disclosures show, 11 Alive, January 10, 2023, https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/stacey-abrams-campaign-reports-14-million-in-debt/85-02eb581b-23ce-480e-8f9c-1ae80fe6d031
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Hurt, Emma, Axios, Scoop: Stacey Abrams campaign in debt after blowout loss, https://www.axios.com/2022/12/19/stacey-abrams-campaign-georgia-governor-debt
6. Moore, Mark, Stacey Abrams’ spending questioned after manager reveals campaign’s $1M debt, New York Post, December 19, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/12/19/stacey-abrams-campaign-reportedly-1-million-in-debt-after-midterm-loss/
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