In Yet Another Anti-Democratic Power Grab, GA Gov. Brian Kemp Secretly Signs Shady Bill Giving More Influence to Big-Money Donors

In an attempt to boost his diminishing chances of being re-elected, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp secretly signed a shady bill allowing state leaders to set up committees to raise money while lobbyists are trying to get legislation passed. The bill, which Kemp snuck in on the last day of the 2021 session and signed without any public announcement from his office, also eliminates contribution limits, allowing for the new committees to raise and spend unlimited funds from big-money donors. 

The bill is just the latest in partisan power grabs by Kemp. In late March, he signed deeply harmful voter suppression legislation, which has been referred to as “Jim Crow 2.0”, to severely restrict Georgians’ voting rights and systematically disenfranchise Black voters.

Signing legislation specifically designed to make it easier for him to win reelection makes sense coming from someone named the “most vulnerable GOP incumbent” by Cook Political Report. With Donald Trump encouraging Georgians to “vote [him] out of office” and actively recruiting primary challengers, Gov. Kemp is banking on voter suppression tactics and help from wealthy donors to get reelected. 

“This is just the latest shady and corrupt attempt by Brian Kemp to use his elected office in order to desperately cling to power,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “Kemp knows he’s deeply unpopular with Georgia voters, so he’s been ripping away voting rights and giving more power to big donors. He might think his anti-democratic  efforts to boost his own reelection chances can fly under the radar, but Georgians know a blatant power grab when they see one — and they’ll reject Kemp in 2022.” 

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