A group presenting itself as a voting rights group is fighting election integrity measures and sowing chaos inside a critical swing state.
Fair Fight, a group founded by election denier Stacey Abrams, is running an ad in Atlanta pressuring Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) to remove three “MAGA extremists” members of the Georgia State Election Board – an action Kemp may not have legal authority to take.
The ad, airing on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, asks voters to flood Kemp’s phone lines demanding he remove three Republican board members who have pushed election integrity measures many Democrats have framed as election interference.
The modest $50,000 ad buy was first reported by the New York Times, who was given an early look at the ad.
Fair Fight and other leftwing groups have objected to the board’s actions to increase election integrity, including its requirement that county election officials make a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results to the state.
National and state Democrats recently sued the board over its certification rules, arguing they could cause confusion and delay the process. Additionally, State Representative Nabilah Islam Parkes filed an ethics complaint against the board, alleging the new rules were passed to help Trump win. An additional complaint alleges the trio violated open meetings laws.
Kemp referred the ethics complaints to the Georgia attorney general. He also asked the AG if he, the governor, possesses the power to remove members of the board.
Trump has praised the board’s work, singling out three Republicans – Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King – as “pit bulls” during a recent campaign rally. The five-member board includes an additional Republican and a Democrat who often have partnered to oppose the trio.
The former president and Kemp recently mended their at-times fraught relationship, with each publicly praising the other.
Even if the election integrity measures remain, by pressuring Kemp to push back against the board and its work, the ad’s backers may hope to rip open the fresh suture between the two, hurting Trump in the critical swing state.
Kemp’s powerful political machine is working to get out the vote in Georgia for Kemp’s preferred candidates in the state legislature. The effort would likely benefit Trump – if the recent truce between the two holds.
The three members who voted for the new rules have pushed back against criticisms, arguing that certification of election results should require basic checks to certify the results, not just a pro forma signature. They insist the rules are intended to increase transparency and voter confidence.
Abrams’ Fair Fight has fought additional election integrity measures in Georgia. In 2021, a federal judge blocked their effort to stop an organization that exists to stop voter fraud from challenging the eligibility of voters whose names appeared on the change-of-address database maintained by the U.S. Postal Service.
Abrams also used a Fair Fight affiliate to file a lawsuit alleging voter suppression in her 2018 loss to Kemp. A judge ruled against her in 2022.
Kemp said at the time of that ruling that Abrams has “from day one … used this lawsuit to line her pockets, sow distrust in our democratic institutions, and build her own celebrity.”
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
