Campaign Finance Reports Show Advantage For Republicans Seeking Oconee County Legislative Seats In Direct And Indirect Funding

***Republicans Benefit From Out-Of-State Funding***

The three Republicans seeking to represent Oconee County in the Georgia General Assembly in January raised $216,138 among them in the 11 weeks following Aug. 1, compared with the $126,392 raised by the three Democrats in those races in that time period.

The three Republicans spent $219,250 of their campaign money in the period leading up to Oct. 20, compared with the $125,769 spent by the three Democrats, according to Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports due to the State Ethics Commission on Tuesday (Oct. 27).

And as of Oct. 20, after one week of early voting had ended, the three Republicans had $352,059 unspent in their accounts. The three Democrats had only $82,039 to spend in the final two weeks of the campaign ending in the Nov. 3 election.

The imbalances were even greater than those numbers suggest, for the three Republicans were the beneficiaries of large amount of separate spending by groups that are theoretically independent of the candidates, while the Democrats had almost none of that type of support.

Each of the Republican candidates across the campaign have received a larger percentage of their funding from corporate, business, and unregistered committees, than the Democrats, who got larger percentages of their money from individual donations than did the Republicans.

Each of the three Republican candidates got a smaller percentage of the funds they raised from out of the state than did each of the Democrats, but the small differences mask the fact that independent groups that supported the candidates–or attacked their opponents–are from outside Georgia.

AFC Victory Fund, a Texas organization, spent $50,264 with a Utah company in October opposing incumbent House District 121 Rep. Eric Gisler, and $134,643 supporting Republican Ward Black in House District 120 and $146,935.94 supporting Republican Marc McMain in Senate District 46 using Ohio and Pennsylvania firms.

A Virginia organization spent $90,992 with another Virginia company on mail, phone calls, and digital ads in opposition in Gisler, and the Virginia based National Riffle Association Political Victory Fund spent $28,114 with a Chicago company for text messaging in support of Black.

October Report: Guest

Republican House District 121 candidate Mack “Dutch” Guest IV was sitting on the largest cache of money of any of the candidates in the final days of the campaign, with $194,292 in unspent money at the Oct. 20 reporting deadline.

Candidates have a five day grace period to file their Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports, and Guest was the first of the six candidates seeking to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly to file a report when he did so on Oct. 23.

The prior report deadline was July 31, when the three Republicans also reported a significant financial advantage over the three Democrats.

Guest, who is from Oconee County, reported On Oct. 23 that he had raised $57,000 from Aug. 1 to Oct. 20, bringing his total contributions in the campaign to $277,290.

Guest reported spending only $40,122 in the Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 reporting period, leaving him with $194,292 in his account.

Candidates categorize the contributions they receive, and, since Jan. 1, Guest has classified 62.7 percent of his contributions as from individuals and 37.3 percent from corporate, business, or unregistered committees.

In the most recent filing period, Guest reported four contributions of $3,300 from individuals and a contribution of that same amount from the campaign account of House Speaker Jon Burns.

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Guest also reported contributions from the Georgia Transportation Alliance, the Georgia Oilmen’s Association, Georgia Highway Contractor’s PAC, the CSX Transportation Inc. State Campaign Account, and the Georgia Ready Mixed Concrete Association.

Since the beginning of the year, 94.0 percent of Guest’s contributions have come in-state donors, with 4.6 percent from out of state and 1.4 percent unspecified.

Guest has spent only $82,997 of the money he has raised since the first of the year and carried over from last year, with $40,112 of that spent in the Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 period.

Of the $40,112 that Guest spent in the last filing period, $34,159 went to War Room Strategies, the Mars Hill Road campaign firm.

Of the $82,997 he spent since the first of the year, $68,213 was with War Room Strategies, or 82.2 percent.

October Report: Gisler

Gisler, the Democratic incumbent in House District 121, raised $76,722 in the period from Aug. 1 to Oct. 20, and spent $68,719. These amounts were more than Guest raised and spent.

Gisler’s total contributions, including money he carried over into the year, were $195,748, far behind Guest’s amount.

But Gisler, who is from Oconee County, spent more than Guest, with a total for the year of $154,163 in disbursements.

As a result, Gisler had only $41,581 in his account at the Oct. 20 filing deadline.

Across the year, 78.3 percent of Gisler’s contributions have come from individuals, and 21.7 percent came from corporate, business, and unregistered committees.

Gisler has chosen to list every donation, despite it size, though he only is required to itemize contributions of $100 or greater, and he listed 1,901 contributions for the year and 1,098 since Aug. 1. (He was not allowed to raise money during the legislative session.)

Since Oct. 1, Gisler has listed contributions as small as $1, and three contributions of $3,300, the legal limit in contribution size, one from the Barnes Law Group in Marietta, one from the chair of National Popular Vote, in California, and one from the PAC for Georgia’s Youth, in Atlanta.

Gisler received contributions from several candidates and from the Georgia Association of Education, the Human Rights Campaign (of Washington, D.C.), and the Georgia E-Commerce Auto Dealers Association.

Across the year, Gisler received 76.0 percent of his contributions from donors with Georgia addresses and 17.7 percent from out-of-state donors, from Alaska to Wyoming, with the vast majority of those donors outside Georgia contributing less than $100. Of the 90 contributions of $500 or more, eight (8.9 percent) were from out-of-state.

Gisler’s two largest expenditures in the Oct. 20 reporting period were $15,000 to Triple Win Studies Inc., of New York for digital services, and $6,518 to the Democratic Party of Georgia, for mail expenses.

October Report: Black

House District 120 Republican Candidate Black, who is from Jackson County, took in $50,439 in campaign contributions in the period from Aug. 1 to Oct. 20, and he spent $47,386.

Black’s total contributions for the year are $221,879, and he spent $165,171, leaving him a monitory balance on Oct. 20 of $56,707.

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Across the year, 56.7 percent of Black’s contributions have come from individuals, with 43.3 percent coming from corporate/business/unregistered committees.

Since Oct. 1, Black received $3,300 from Georgians for Tomorrow, that same amount from House Speaker Jon Burns’s campaign, and $3,000 from the Georgia Association of Realtors.

He also received money from the Georgia EMC Pac, the Georgia Manufacturers PAC, the Committee of Automobile Retail Dealers of Georgia, the Georgia Trucking Association, and the Georgia Highway Contractors Association PAC.

Of Black’s contributions across the year, 93.8 percent are from donors with a Georgia address.

In his Oct. 20 report, Black’s only out-of-state contribution is $500 from Koch GA Inc, from Wichita, KS. Koch Inc. has numerous Georgia companies, including Georgia-Pacific.

Of the $47,386 in spending by Black in the final campaign period, $44,794 was to War Room Strategies.

Of the $165,171 that Black reported spending this year, $136,251 was with War Room Strategies, or 82.5 percent.

October Report: Karatassos

Suzanna Karatassos, the Democratic candidate in House District 120, took in $34,974 in campaign contributions in the Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 campaign period, and spent $35,974.

Since the beginning of the year, Karatassos, who is from Jackson County, has raised $104,790, or less than half the amount raised by Black, and she has spent $73,438, or less than half of what Black has spent.

Karatassos entered the final two weeks of the campaign with $31,352 in her campaign account.

Since the beginning of the year, 96.9 percent of her contributions have come from individuals, with only 3.1 percent coming from corporate, business, and unregistered committees.

In her Oct. 20 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report to the Georgia Ethics Commission, Karatassos reports receiving $3,300 from United for Georgia Women Inc., $2,000 from the Fighting Fifty PAC in Atlanta, $2,000 from the Clarke County Democratic Party, and $500 from the Jackson County Democratic Party, and that same amount from other political candidates and from individuals.

Karatassos also listed all contributions of $1 or more, and Since Aug. 1 she reported 693 contributions, only eight of which were not individual contributions. None of the eight were corporate contributors.

Of Karatassos’s contributions since the first of the year, 81.1 percent were from someone or some organization with a Georgia address.

Of the 19 contributions of $500 or more in the final campaign report, three were individuals from out of state (15.7 percent).

Karatassos reported spending $9,000 in the final reporting period with Clay House Public, a campaign firm based in Marietta, and $5,400 with Athens Consulting LLC.

She also spent $5,802 with Growmail in Delaware and $5,000 with Human Age Digital in Texas.

October Report: McMain

Republican Senate District 46 candidate McMain, from Walton County, reported taking in $108,699 in campaign contributions in October and spending $131,751.

His total contributions, including carry over funds and $100,000 he loaned his campaign, were $679,893.

McMain reported spending $578,834 in his Oct. 20 report, leaving $101,059 unspent in his campaign account.

Across the year, 73.3 percent of his funds came from individual, with 26.7 percent coming from corporate, business, unregistered committees.

Since Oct. 1, McMain received 12 contributions of $3,300, including from Larry Walker for State Senate and from the Georgia Republican Senatorial Committee. The other 10 contributions of $3,300 were from individuals.

McMain has received contributions of $500 or more from Gas South PAC, Committee of Automobile Retail Dealers of Georgia, Georgia Transportation Alliance, Georgia EMC Pac, Georgia Residential Land Development PAC, Georgia Manufacturers Political Action Committee, The Georgia Medical PAC, the Georgia Association of Realtors, Georgia Optometric Association PAC, Georgia Highway Contractors Association PAC, BevPac, Yancey Bros Co, and VGW Luckyland Inc.

VGW in a gaming company that operates casinos. It contributed $2,000 to McMain’s campaign. VGW Luckyland Inc. has spent $225,200 so far this year on Georgia candidates or committees.

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Of McMain’s contributions this year, 96.0 percent are from in-state donors.

In his Oct. 20 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report, McMain lists contributions from Florida, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Illinois, and Colorado.

Of the $131,751 that McMain reported spending in the Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 reporting period, $125,677 was with War Room Strategies.

Of the $578,834 he reports spending in the campaign since the beginning of the year, $362,309, or 62.6 percent, was with War Room Strategies.

According to the Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports, candidates in the state spent $2.2 million with War Room Strategies so far this year.

Of that amount, $566,774 was spent by the three Republican candidates seeking to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly in January, or 25.7 percent.

October Report: Smith

Ray Smith, the Democratic candidate for Senate District 46, raised $14,696 in the Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 filing period, and spent $21,592. Smith is from Oconee County.

Since January, Smith has raised and carried over from last year $54,994, and spent $45,889, leaving him with $9,105 in his account with the final two weeks of the election period to go.

Across the campaign year, Smith has raised 91.8 percent of his funds from individuals, and 8.2 percent from corporate, business, and unregistered committees.

Smith listed all contributions of $1 or more in his Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report, and he listed 122 items since Aug. 1 of this year.

Since Aug. 1, Smith received two contributions of $1,000, and he contributed $3,000 of his own funds to his campaign.

All of his contributions in the Oct. 20 filing period were from individuals, excepting $500 from the Clarke County Democratic Committee, $300 from the Georgia State AFL-CIO PAA, and that same amount from another candidate.

Since the beginning of the year, 84.9 percent of Smith’s contributions have been from Georgia donors, with 7.6 percent from out of state.

In the Oct. 20 filing period, only one contribution, from an individual for $700, was from another state, South Carolina.

During this Aug. 1 to Oct. 20 period, Smith spent $11,501 with Clash Graphics in Atlanta on campaign literature and related materials and $6,331 for staff salaries.

Mailers In 121st House District

In late summer, a group identifying itself as AFC Victory Fund, with a Dallas, Texas, mailing address, began sending out mailers to at least some subset of voters in House District 121 attacking Democratic incumbent Gisler .

Based on the address, AFC Victory Fund is associated with the American Federation for Children, Inc., which, according to its web site, is an advocate of school choice.

The early mailers said Gisler has voted against property tax relief, public safety, and education.

At a Town Hall meeting in late August, Gisler explained his votes to date on those topics and directed audience members to his web site, where he elaborated on his position on those three topics.

A more sinister version of the mailers began in the last few weeks, focusing on property taxes and law enforcement.

They have been followed by a positive mailer for Guest, which was attributed to A Strong Georgia Inc. The mailer included the note that it was “Not Authorized By Any Candidate Committee.”

I sent Guest a text message on the afternoon of Oct. 24, saying “It is unusual that an outside group would be so focused on a legislative campaign like this. I don’t recall this ever being the case in the nearly 30 years I have lived here.”

“I see no link between your campaign and this group in your campaign report,” I wrote. “But I am wondering if you have any insight into how this Dallas group got involved in your campaign?”

Guest texted back on the afternoon of Oct. 26, with this message, which he included in the quote marks:

“I am not familiar with the group. Maybe ask Eric about his 378 donations from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California, plus 42 other states outside Georgia. If you want to know who he’ll answer to, follow the money.”

AFC Victory Fund Spending

According to the state Ethics Commission fillings, AFC Victory Fund has spent $731,553 on campaigns in Georgia from April 23 to Oct. 22, with $50,264 of that in opposition to Democrat Gisler.

The money was sent from AFC Victory Fund with an Alabama address to Arena LLC in St. Lake City. Arena describes itself as a direct mail and digital agency that works with Republicans.

AFC Victory Fund also has spent $134,643 in support of House District 120 Republican Black and $123,870 in support of Senate District 46 Republican McMain, according to filings with the State Ethics Commission.

Those monies went to companies in New Albany, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pa., for digital media and mail and text messaging, according to the report.

So a total of $308,777, or 42.2 percent, of the total AFC Victory Fund spending was devoted to the three legislative races for candidates wishing to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly.

The money and the firms doing the work are outside Georgia.

Other Indirect Spending

In addition to the AFC Victory Fund Spending, the National Rifle Association of America Political Victory fund, based in Fairfax, Va., spent $28,114 with a Chicago firm creating “peer to peer” messaging in support of Republican Black in the House District 120 race, according to the Georgia Ethics Committee reports.

And the First Amendment LLC, also of Fairfax, Va., spent $90,902 with Make Liberty Win LLC, also in Fairfax, on direct mail, phone calls, and digital ads against incumbent Democrat Gisler in House District 121.

A Strong Georgia Inc., which took responsibility for a mailing supporting House District 121 candidate Guest but said the mailer was “Not Authorized By Any Candidate Or Candidate Committee,” is a Georgia Republican leadership committee.

Its expenditure report lists numerous recipients, such as for canvassing, polling, mailers, and digital advertising, but it does not list individual candidates.

The Working Families Party Georgia State Independent Committee has allocated $1,930 in support of House District 120 Democrat Karatassos.

The next Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report filing deadline for candidates is not until Jan. 31 of 2027.