Note: This article may contain commentary reflecting the author's opinion.
Two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has garnered an even worse reputation as she fails to pay campaign staffers backpay as her pocketbook runs dry following fundraising failures.
The Stacey Abrams campaign raised over $103 million in their effort to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) in the 2022 midterm elections. The presidential-sized fundraising effort, however, wasn’t able to change the minds of Georgia’s voters as much of it was spent on lavish amenities and far-fetched ideas.
Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo told Axios that efforts to raise funds in the waning days of the campaign were complicated by Abrams’ poor polling numbers which consistently had her eight points behind her opponent.
Axios reported that “money became so tight that most of the 180 full-time staffers were given an abrupt paycheck cutoff date — just a week after the November election. ‘People have told me they have no idea how they’re going to pay their rent in January,’ one former staffer told Axios. ‘It was more than unfortunate. It was messed up.’”
As Abrams failed to pay her campaign staffers, a portion of the $103 million went to a lavish “hype house” in Piedmont Park for TikTok influencers which went unused throughout the campaign for its stated purpose. The house is currently listed for $12,500 a month, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In addition to the “hype house,” the Abrams campaign also spent money on a “swag truck” and pop-up stores to disperse free merchandise to young people across Georgia.
CAMPAIGN OF ELECTION DENIER STACEY ABRAMS IS IN SIGNIFICANT DEBT AFTER ANOTHER COLOSSAL FAILURE IN GUBERNATORIAL RUN
The campaign also spent money on polling that was disregarded and consultants that didn’t have clear roles in the sprawling campaign.
The cash-flow problems became so consistent that it ended up affecting the campaign in its final days as weekly ad buys went from $2 to $3 million in early October to only $825,000 in the final week of the campaign, per Axios.
That same week, Brian Kemp spent $2.6 million on ad buys which gave him double the airtime of the fledgling Abrams.
“It’s incredibly bad planning, and it shows where their values are at,” said a Democrat strategist about Abrams’ spending habits. “You can’t look up one day and realize you can’t pay the bills.”
The Abrams campaign relied on $53 million from megadonors throughout the election cycle and the campaign spent its cash wildly which led to the campaign having unbalanced books and owing over $1 million to vendors post-election.
The Abrams campaign is terrible at both balancing their checkbooks and balancing their message to Georgians. The Democrats poured money into the Georgia gubernatorial race in hopes of unseating a popular governor only to be met with disappointment. Hopefully, Democrats learn their lesson the second time around and ditch Abrams to the curb.
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Two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has garnered an even worse reputation as she fails to pay campaign staffers backpay as her pocketbook runs dry following fundraising failures.
The Stacey Abrams campaign raised over $103 million in their effort to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) in the 2022 midterm elections. The presidential-sized fundraising effort, however, wasn’t able to change the minds of Georgia’s voters as much of it was spent on lavish amenities and far-fetched ideas.
Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo told Axios that efforts to raise funds in the waning days of the campaign were complicated by Abrams’ poor polling numbers which consistently had her eight points behind her opponent.
Axios reported that “money became so tight that most of the 180 full-time staffers were given an abrupt paycheck cutoff date — just a week after the November election. ‘People have told me they have no idea how they’re going to pay their rent in January,’ one former staffer told Axios. ‘It was more than unfortunate. It was messed up.’”
As Abrams failed to pay her campaign staffers, a portion of the $103 million went to a lavish “hype house” in Piedmont Park for TikTok influencers which went unused throughout the campaign for its stated purpose. The house is currently listed for $12,500 a month, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In addition to the “hype house,” the Abrams campaign also spent money on a “swag truck” and pop-up stores to disperse free merchandise to young people across Georgia.
CAMPAIGN OF ELECTION DENIER STACEY ABRAMS IS IN SIGNIFICANT DEBT AFTER ANOTHER COLOSSAL FAILURE IN GUBERNATORIAL RUN
The campaign also spent money on polling that was disregarded and consultants that didn’t have clear roles in the sprawling campaign.
The cash-flow problems became so consistent that it ended up affecting the campaign in its final days as weekly ad buys went from $2 to $3 million in early October to only $825,000 in the final week of the campaign, per Axios.
That same week, Brian Kemp spent $2.6 million on ad buys which gave him double the airtime of the fledgling Abrams.
“It’s incredibly bad planning, and it shows where their values are at,” said a Democrat strategist about Abrams’ spending habits. “You can’t look up one day and realize you can’t pay the bills.”
The Abrams campaign relied on $53 million from megadonors throughout the election cycle and the campaign spent its cash wildly which led to the campaign having unbalanced books and owing over $1 million to vendors post-election.
The Abrams campaign is terrible at both balancing their checkbooks and balancing their message to Georgians. The Democrats poured money into the Georgia gubernatorial race in hopes of unseating a popular governor only to be met with disappointment. Hopefully, Democrats learn their lesson the second time around and ditch Abrams to the curb.
You Can Follow Sterling on Twitter Here