ATLANTA — Lt. Gov. Burt Jones can no longer raise millions of dollars for his gubernatorial campaign through a special fundraising committee, a setback in his race for the Republican nomination.
A federal judge ruled Friday in favor of a Republican rival, Rick Jackson, whose lawsuit alleged that Jones gained an unfair advantage through WBJ Leadership Committee, which state law exempts from the same campaign contribution rules that apply to other candidates.
The decision is a blow against Jones' use of a Georgia fundraising tool called leadership committees that allow a handful of powerful politicians, including the lieutenant governor, to avoid campaign finance limits under a state law passed in 2021.
Unlike Jones' leadership committee, which can raise unlimited funds, all other candidates for statewide offices this year are only permitted to raise $8,400 per donor for primary and general elections and $4,800 per donor for runoffs.
Jackson, a billionaire health care executive whose surprise candidacy shook up the race this month, praised U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash's order granting a temporary restraining order.
"A federal court today made clear that Burt Jones doesn't get his own rulebook," said Dave Abrams, a spokesman for Jackson's campaign.
The court ruling granted Jackson's request to stop WBJ Leadership Committee from raising or spending money for Jones' campaign, and to cancel campaign ads purchased since Feb. 10.
WBJ Leadership Committee, which is led by Jones, had a $15.9 million balance as of Jan. 31, according to a campaign finance filing. Jones' regular campaign committee had $3.3 million on hand.
Leadership committees have been stopped by courts in the past. Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican David Perdue won similar lawsuits against Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.
"We're not surprised Rick Jackson is taking a page from Stacey Abrams' playbook, using lawfare to target President Trump's endorsed candidate for governor. Georgia Republicans have already rejected that strategy — and they'll reject it again," said Kayla Lott, a spokeswoman for Jones' campaign.
Attorney General Chris Carr, another Republican contender for governor, had previously lost a court challenge to Georgia's leadership committees based on different legal arguments.
"This is a significant shift in the landscape of this race," said Carr's campaign. "That leadership committee has been the primary vehicle holding and deploying Burt Jones' financial resources. With it now shut down, his campaign has lost its primary source of spending power."
Jackson, Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger aren't allowed to have leadership committees in their campaigns for governor. Under Georgia's leadership committee law, they're only permitted for the governor, lieutenant governor, Democratic and Republican nominees for those offices, and legislative leaders of each party.
Raffensperger's campaign had a nearly $5.4 million balance as of Jan. 31, and Carr's campaign had almost $3.2 million, according to their campaign finance disclosures. Jackson hasn't yet reported contributions since he launched his campaign earlier this month.
The judge hasn't ruled on what will happen to the money held by Jones' leadership committee. Jackson's lawsuit said contributions should be refunded to Jones' donors.