A once rising star in the Democratic Party is falling to earth, leaving disillusioned young politically minded folks clamoring for answers. Stacey Abrams – who raised more than $103 million in her ultimately unsuccessful quest to win the governor’s seat in Georgia – now has a few questions to answer: namely, where’s the money? The record-setting haul of cash in a rematch with Governor Brian Kemp had people curious as to why there was a sudden lack of funds days before the election, and now the campaign reportedly holds a debt of over $1 million.
It seems that former staffers of the outspoken progressive have had a come-to-Jesus meeting and decided it was time to talk.
Winning and Losing Support
The Democrats, specifically those in the Peach state, are masters of luring the young vote towards the cult of progressivism. Abrams was that movement’s grand poohbah. But not anymore; even the most stalwart of supporters, once dazzled by dreams of free stuff and world peace, are beginning to come out of the ether.
The allegations of misspending on the youth vote are among the most egregious if true. Several staffers have relayed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a house was rented for the sole purpose of – not housing staffers – but creating TikTok videos. TikTok was abandoned, and a few of Abrams’ aides moved into the vacant five-bedroom craftsman-style house, with a hefty $12,500 a month rent, as a makeshift office. The campaign also had a swag wagon. Yes, a traveling dispensary of free Abrams Koozies, hoodies, t-shirts, and other cool collectible political attire that will litter Georgia’s many thrift stores soon enough. One anonymous tattler bemoaned the seemingly random consultant and polling line items as costly with no apparent purpose considering the campaign refused to adjust to trends in the lead-up to the crushing loss.
Stacey Abrams (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Abrams paid well: even offering benefits to her staff. But in the fall, she whacked a program that allowed employees to schedule mental health sessions. Yes, you read that correctly. So much for post-election therapy. One anonymous former staffer said it was “brutal timing.” And staffing became a net zero return just prior to the election. Cutting a television ad budget in half sent alarm bells clanging: The Abrams for Governor organization was apparently dead broke. Campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo, who has spun a narrative of “redirecting assets,” now admits spending was reckless and not calculated with much of a strategy. And even Democratic strategist Chris Huttman admitted to Axios that Abrams’ two statewide campaigns had a “well-documented habit” of tossing money around. Once Abrams lost – and this time conceded – the election, within days, 180 employees were sent packing with a small bonus and no outlook for employment.
One Georgia Democratic Party official spoke on the record (anonymously to attempt to keep the peace): “It’s incredibly bad planning, and it shows where their values are at. You can’t look up one day and realize you can’t pay the bills.”
Stacey Abrams Doesn’t Look Backward
Stacey Abrams has apparently already moved on. Instead of helping Raphael Warnock in the run-off against Herschel Walker, she instead laid low for nearly a month and then resurfaced not with a plan to help Warnock but a publicity tour to tout her newest children’s book release. She’s not a team player, that one. No, Abrams is a tax evader, a flag burner, and a very loud talker – but she’s no governor. Instead, she’s a very inconsiderate-in-debt would-be political dynamo that has shot from the sky in a downward trajectory leaving her remaining loyal subjects to clean up the mess. She’ll probably run for president in 2028.
