Despite boasting a massive fundraising haul of over $100 million in the 2022 cycle, two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ (D) campaign claims that it owes money and staffers were reportedly dropped from the payroll shortly after the November midterm elections.
“I figured, $100 million? They should be able to pay me until December.” Stacey Abrams' lavishly funded campaign ended in serious debt and quickly cut off paychecks to staffers https://t.co/Ax7nwhXkBH
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) December 19, 2022
The Democrat’s campaign reportedly owes roughly $1 million to vendors despite raising a total of $105.3 million via her campaign and leadership committee through October 25, according to finance reports cited by GPB.
On Monday, Abrams’ former campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo told Axios about the $1 million debt — claiming that fundraising had become difficult for the campaign due to a “cavalcade of negative press and negative polling” in the last few months of the election.
“We did not just lose, we got blown out,” she said. “It was the most sub-optimal situation to be in. And we will be dealing with that situation for some time.”
Abrams lost to incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R) by nearly 300,000 votes.
Following the devastating loss, the Abrams campaign reportedly cut off employees’ paychecks almost immediately.
Speaking with Axios, an unnamed former staffer said that most campaign employees’ paychecks ended just one week after Election Day — which left some with “no idea how they’re going to pay their rent in January.”
“It was more than unfortunate,” the former staffer added. “It was messed up.”
Regarding cutting off employees’ paychecks, Groh-Wargo told Axios: “Of course, I would have loved to do a lot of things differently. But I had to move as fast as possible.”
The former campaign manager made sure to note that Abrams’ campaign did pay the employees’ health insurance benefits through November, adding: “We tried to do the best we could to make sure that help would be there for folks.”
However, other Georgia campaigns that did not raise nearly as much as Abrams’ did still managed to pay their employees for a bit longer than she did, giving them more notice to find employment. “Campaign officials for Gov. Brian Kemp said that his staff was paid through November, while officials for Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and GOP candidate Herschel Walker said that their staffers are being paid through December,” according to Newsmax.
Meanwhile, Abrams recently said that she was willing to run for office again during an appearance on a talk show.
Stacey Abrams — a serial election denier and two-time loser — says she “may run” for office again. pic.twitter.com/bsmy4kFTII
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 16, 2022
