ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr raised $2.2 million for his 2026 gubernatorial bid in less than two months after taking the unprecedented step of announcing in November.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who could be Carr's top opponent in the 2026 GOP primary, raised $1.7 million for what Georgia calls a leadership committee, filings show.
The question, though, is whether Jones can use that money in a Republican primary. In 2022, a federal judge ruled that incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp couldn't spend money from his leadership committee against challenger David Perdue in a GOP primary.
Carr strategist Heath Garrett said the ruling still applies.
“That cannot be spent on anything that furthers his Republican primary campaign for governor," he said.
Jones' chief of staff, Loree Anne Paradise, said in a statement that Jones, who has said only that he is considering running for governor, is “laser-focused on a conservative agenda.”
“Republicans in Georgia should be singularly focused on achieving results and working with President Trump to change our country for the better, instead of playing politics and whining about campaign finance rules,” Paradise said.
Leadership committees have fundraising superpowers under Georgia law.
Carr and other gubernatorial candidates are limited to maximum donations of $8,400 for the May 2026 primary. They also can't raise money during legislative sessions, including the one that began Jan. 13, and aren't allowed to coordinate with other committees.
But leadership committees can raise unlimited sums, including during legislative sessions, and can coordinate directly with a candidate's committee.
Jones, Kemp and the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the House and Senate are all operating leadership committees. Carr and other candidates for governor and lieutenant governor wouldn't gain those fundraising abilities unless he won his party's nomination for governor.
It's that basic unfairness that led both Perdue and Democrat Stacey Abrams to sue over Kemp's leadership committee in 2022, shortly after the fundraising structure was created in 2021.
Ruling in Perdue's favor, U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen found the law violated free speech rights by creating an “unequal” campaign finance system that favored candidates who controlled leadership committees.
Carr's office defended the leadership committee law, as is typical when the state is sued.
Kemp used his leadership committee not only to support his own reelection in 2022 but to support legislative candidates in 2024. State law says the money can be used “for the purpose of affecting the outcome of any election or advocating for the election or defeat of any candidate.”
For now, Carr's team says it is happy with his fundraising. Donations have been concentrated in Georgia’s business community. He received $8,400 from former Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning, former CEO of Synovus Corp. bank Kessel Stelling Jr., and former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli and his wife Susan, among other blue-chip business names.
Those donations reflect Carr’s service as economic development commissioner before he became Georgia’s chief lawyer. Carr, former chief of staff for the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, also raised nearly $29,000 from Isakson's family members.
Jones' leadership committee can raise money in much larger chunks, including $100,000 from the American Health & Wellness Association, which describes itself as a political action committee in its July incorporation filing. It has made no filings with the state Ethics Commission or the Federal Election Commission.
Jones' leadership committee collected more than a dozen donations of $25,000 or more, mostly from groups that are lobbying issues before the Senate, including sports betting groups and trade groups pushing to limit lawsuit verdicts. He also collected a significant number of donations from plaintiff's lawyers who oppose changes that Kemp calls “tort reform.”
Fundraising may ultimately be more important for Carr because Jones is much more wealthy than Carr. Jones and his family could find other ways to infuse money into his campaign even if access to his leadership committee is cut off.
Carr has aligned closely with Kemp but could face opposition from President Donald Trump and his supporters in a primary election. Jones has been close to Trump and would likely angle for his endorsement.
Fueled by displeasure that Carr didn’t back Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss in Georgia, Trump in 2022 endorsed a primary opponent who lost to Carr.
