David Perdue, candidate for Georgia governor on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Georgia Senate Bill 221, which he said allows Governor Brian Kemp, as the incumbent, "to collect and spend unlimited campaign contributions through a 'leadership committee,' while other candidates are barred from doing so."
The former U.S. senator said, “This unconstitutional law was spearheaded by Brian Kemp to protect himself and silence those who seek to challenge him. It reeks of cronyism and corruption.
"Making sure all candidates play by the same rules is just common sense, but Brian Kemp has abandoned that to advance his own self-interests. This is exactly what people hate about politics. As an outsider to this political process, this is the most self-serving thing I’ve discovered so far. Only a 20-year career politician like Kemp would create an unfair advantage to line his campaign coffers for his own self-preservation. He’d never get away with this in the real world.”
The Perdue campaign said, "Brian Kemp signed SB 221 into law in 2021 to create a new political entity in the state called a 'leadership committee.' These leadership committees can accept unlimited contributions.As chair of his own leadership committee, Brian Kemp can direct and spend these unlimited contributions in the same manner he spends campaign funds.
"A challenger to the incumbent governor can’t do the same, allowing the incumbent to raise more than their opponent and creating an unlevel playing field."
The Perdue lawsuit only focuses on the Governor’s leadership committee. He is not challenging the House or Senate leadership committees.
View the lawsuit here.