Stacey Abrams has been humiliated again by the failure of her gubernatorial nomination.
Abrams reportedly has had to lay off a majority of her Fair Fight Staff, an organization she founded to combat alleged voter suppression.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Stacey Abrams founded Fair Fight to fight for voting rights. The group has been fighting in court over this issue and has incurred massive legal costs.
… The voting rights, fundraising, and grassroots organizing will be reduced. A total of 20 employees or 75% will be laid off.
Salena Jegede, the Fair Fight chairwoman, is a woman of great integrity. She stated that increased costs of fighting lawsuits, and a slowdown in fundraising have left Fair Fight with a “serious funding deficit”, which renders the current trajectory unsustainable.
Jegede said, “While these facts may disappoint us, we will not be discouraged.” “We will adapt the new phase in the fight for democracy by restructuring the organization to better serve Georgians and Americans beyond the 2024 election cycle. “
Abrams’ collapse is embarrassing for her. She was once a prominent member of the Democratic Party and even a possible Biden vice presidential pick.
Fair Fight’s financial situation hasn’t always been so dire. This number has decreased steadily since then.
The organization has been plagued by corruption allegations since its inception. Evidence suggests that Allegra Lawrence Hardy’s closest friend, who was involved in a long and ultimately unsuccessful claim of voter suppression against the State of Georgia, received the bulk of the funds raised.
In her race for governor in 2022, she was also defeated by Republican incumbent Brian Kemp.
Politico published the following report at the time:
In the last two years, Stacey Abrams’ voting rights group has spent more than $25 million in legal fees. Most of this money was for one case. The majority of the money went to a boutique law firm, which the campaign chairman for the candidate describes as being hers.
Allegra Lawrence Hardy was Abrams’ close friend, and she led both her 2018 and 2019 gubernatorial campaigns. Lawrence & Bundy is also the firm where she chairs her campaign to remove Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. This small law firm is made up of fewer than 20 attorneys.
Fair Fight Action has received $9.4 million from the firm between 2019 and 2020. Fair Fight Action received $9.4 million from the firm in 2019 and 2020.
Fair Fight Action claims that the lawsuit, which ended last Thursday when a federal judge ruled against the remaining three claims, played an important part in bringing awareness to voting injustices. Others have questioned how much money was spent on one mostly unsuccessful legal case and the fact that Abrams’ campaign chair received a large payout.
Jegede insists that Fair Fight will continue and that the restructuring “will ensure that it is strongly positioned to fight many battles in the future.”
She said, “The necessity to fight those who want to disenfranchise Americans or remove their agency has never been greater.” “Our commitment is unwavering. “
