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Could the midterms be impacted by the FBI’s recent raid in Georgia?
The FBI’s recent seizure of election materials in Georgia could undermine voter confidence in the integrity of upcoming midterms.
Healthcare executive and political outsider Rick Jackson has been in the race for Georgia governor for just 10 days, but he’s already charging forward in the polls and taking on his opponents in court.
Burt Jones, the current Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, was previously thought as the frontrunner for the Republican party, securing President Donald Trump’s endorsement months ago and posing alongside the president in recent videos.
Then Jackson entered the race with an organized team and millions of his own dollars to spend on his campaign.
One poll from co/efficient put Jackson as the top candidate in the GOP primary with 24% support above Jones’ 16% and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s 9% as of Feb. 9.
And the race just got more intense, as Jackson’s campaign filed a lawsuit against Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr (also running for governor) and other state officials alleging Jones’ campaign financing is unconstitutional.
Jones’ campaign financing called ‘uneven and discriminatory’
The lawsuit alleges that Jones’ position as incumbent lieutenant governor provides him a unique and unconstitutional advantage in raising money to support his campaign.
The lieutenant governor is able to set up a “leadership committee” that is exempt from the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act, the law that sets financial limits on campaign contributions, according to the lawsuit.
Candidates in statewide elections are limited to $8,400 contributions per donor in the primary and $4,800 contributions in a runoff.
Jones’ group is able to raise “unlimited contributions,” thereby setting up a “de facto second, super-duper campaign committee for Lieutenant Governor Jones that disadvantages Jackson” and the other candidates, the lawsuit alleges.
“Prior to the primary election, only the incumbent lieutenant governor is permitted to create a leadership committee,” the lawsuit says. “The incumbent lieutenant governor thus may amass a political war chest of unlimited contributions for the governor’s race. He can then use those unlimited funds to support his own candidacy, and to attack his challengers in the primary election, who have one hand — both, really — statutorily tied behind their backs.”
Other candidates tried it first
Jackson and his team aren’t the first opponents to go after Jones for his campaign spending.
Safe Affordable Georgia, on behalf of Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Raffensperger, filed suit in December asking a judge to allow the political action committee to operate like Jones’ leadership committee.
The PAC could coordinate with Raffensperger’s campaign, which it was previously prohibited from doing.
Attorney General Chris Carr and his team also filed a lawsuit earlier in 2025 to bar Jones from using the leadership committee in his race for governor.
All legal challenges have been unsuccessful so far.
Jones’ team calls lawsuit ‘silly’
Representatives for Jones largely dismissed the new lawsuit in a statement to CBS Atlanta.
“This silly lawsuit has been unsuccessfully attempted twice already by the other never-Trump candidates in this race and will fail a third time,” a spokesperson for Jones’ campaign told the outlet. “Not remotely surprising that the grifter crew surrounding Rick Jackson convinced him to waste more of his money.”
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.