Two-time failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ campaign owes a lot of money, according to the ranking official who ran it. Lauren Groh-Wargo, who served as Abrams’ campaign manager, says that Abrams’ campaign owes more than $1 million to vendors. Abrams also ran out of money during her 2018 campaign, so this issue has obviously become a pattern for Abrams.
Now, the Abrams campaign is facing large debts and had to suddenly cut off employee pay towards the end of the election, despite raising more than $100 million. Chris Huttman, who is a Georgia Democratic operative, told the outlet that “she was running a campaign where there’s always been more money in the future that can fix the mistakes of the past,” The Daily Caller reported.
In the last week of the campaign, the campaign had to cut its ad spending from $2-$3 million in October to $825,000.
While Abrams’ rival campaign, Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, paid its employees through the close of November with bonuses, the majority of Abrams’ campaign’s 180 full-time staff were given sudden notices that their pay would be cut off one week after the election.
With the vast majority of her funding coming from out of state and some notable gifts from celebrities – including Leonardo DiCaprio and Melinda Gates – Abrams out-raised her rival by $8 million in 2022. But despite out-raising her, she lost to Kemp by nine points.
It’s not at all clear that she will be a viable gubernatorial candidate — or a Democratic candidate for any elected office in Georgia — moving forward.