Burt Jones amasses war chest ahead of expected Georgia governor bid

Much of Jones’ cash — nearly $1.2 million — was raised through a leadership committee, a financial vehicle created by a GOP-backed law that has already reshaped Georgia politics.

The 2021 law allows Jones to use the committee to raise unlimited contributions and continue fundraising through the legislative session — when state officials, including him, would otherwise be barred.

Carr doesn’t have that advantage — the law doesn’t include a carve-out for his office — so he scrambled to raise as much as possible between launching his bid in mid-November and the session’s Jan. 13 start.

The committees are the subject of much legal scrutiny. In 2022, a federal judge ruled Kemp can’t use the committee to advocate for his reelection or attack his opponents during the primary or a runoff. But the ruling didn’t forbid him from raising money through the committee during the primary, nor did it ban him from using it to promote his agenda.

State Democrats sued last year to overturn the law, saying it gives an unfair advantage to a few incumbent officials while other contenders face strict limits on how much they can raise. Democrats later dropped the lawsuit, but a similar challenge filed by the Green Party and Libertarian Party is pending.

Jones, expected to enter the race after the legislative session ends in April, has amassed his seven-figure haul without devoting much time to raising campaign donations.

As an executive in a family-run petroleum and insurance business, he can partly self-finance his campaign. And like Kemp, he insists his focus remains on the legislative session rather than his political future.

Still, Jones’ role as president of the Georgia Senate, which gives him significant influence over which measures reach a vote, has made him a magnet for donations from well-connected lobbyists and trade groups.