Judge throws out campaign finance lawsuit between Republican rivals in Georgia governor’s race

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday threw out a lawsuit by one of Georgia’s top Republican officials against his chief rival for the 2026 GOP nomination for governor that claimed the opponent had an unfair advantage in campaign fundraising.

The judge’s ruling allows Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to continue raising unlimited campaign funds using a special leadership committee granted to a select group of Georgia officials under a 2021 law. The suit was filed by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who says the committee gives Jones an edge that violates Carr’s constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.

Carr filed suit as a candidate, not in his official capacity as attorney general, as he and Jones compete as leading candidates for the Republican nomination to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp. The GOP primary is next May.

Filed Aug. 7 in Atlanta, Carr’s lawsuit asked a U.S. District Court judge to cut off Jones’ ability to raise and spend money using his leadership committee. That’s a special fundraising vehicle that allows only the governor, lieutenant governor and a small group of legislative leaders to raise unlimited funds.

The law doesn’t give Carr access to that type of committee. Instead, he must rely on a regular campaign committee limited to raising $8,400 from each primary donor plus $4,200 for any primary runoff.

In her ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Marie Calvert wrote that “it is undisputed” that Jones’ leadership committee gives him a fundraising advantage.

She still dismissed the lawsuit, noting that Carr wasn’t challenging the constitutionality of the law itself, but instead sued Jones and his campaign for “doing exactly what Georgia law allows them to do.”

By seeking to blame Jones for the disparity rather than the fundraising law, the judge wrote, Carr was asking the court “to twist itself into a logical pretzel.”

The favorable ruling for Jones comes two weeks after the lieutenant governor got a political boost from President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jones’ candidacy for governor.

Carr’s campaign spokesperson, Julia Mazzone, said the dismissal was based “on a procedural technicality, not on the merits.” She said the campaign was considering further legal options.

Jones’ campaign has called Carr a hypocrite because Carr’s office in 2022 defended the same finance law he sued to block Jones from using. Carr has said he’s obligated as attorney general to defend challenged laws even if he personally disagrees with them.

Carr announced his run for governor last year, saying he needed a head start raising money because he isn’t personally wealthy. Carr’s campaign has voiced concerns for months that Jones will use his leadership committee and family wealth to win the primary.

Jones has already made a $10 million loan to his leadership committee, which Carr’s campaign tried unsuccessfully to get the state Ethics Commission to investigate.

Carr’s lawsuit cited a 2022 federal judge’s ruling that Kemp’s leadership committee could not spend money to help him win the Republican primary that year. U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen found that the “unequal campaign finance scheme” violated challenger David Perdue’s free speech rights.

But Carr sought more extensive restrictions on Jones’ leadership committee than Cohen ordered, such as seeking to cut off both fundraising and spending by Jones’ committee until the primary is over.