ATLANTA — Despite setting fundraising records during her unsuccessful bid to become Georgia governor, the Stacey Abrams campaign reports that it owes more than $1.4 million to vendors.
According to disclosures filed with the state finance commission earlier this week, Abrams raised more than $113 million through her campaign and her leadership committee "One Georgia," a group that could accept unlimited funds on her behalf under state law.
The largest debt is the nearly $1.2 million that One Georgia owes to her media firm AL Media. Other debts include more than $200,000 to a Washington D.C. consulting firm, according to the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission.
The Abrams groups spent nearly $54 million with AL Media for digital, TV and radio advertising — more than any other vendor during the campaign, financial disclosures show. The company has offices in Chicago and Washington D.C.
Abrams' campaign and leadership committee is expected to have roughly $100,000 on hand, the state finance commission told 11Alive.
Her opponent, Republican Brian Kemp, raised nearly $90 million between his campaign and leadership committee. He ended the race with roughly $5.2 million on hand. Both candidates moved money from their campaigns to their leadership committees, records show.
Kemp defeated Abrams by nearly eight points in November's election.
Abrams' campaign debt was first reported by Axios last month. A former member of Abrams' staff previously confirmed details included the Axios report to 11Alive.
A former staffer told 11Alive that a "vast majority" of Abrams' roughly 180 campaign staff members were given their final checks on Nov. 15, one week after Kemp beat the Democrat by nearly 300,000 votes.
Staffs for other major Georgia campaigns were paid through December or January, Axios reported.
Lauren Groh-Wargo, who served as Abrams' campaign manager during the 2018 and 2022 races, told Axios that negative press and polling made fundraising difficult in the final stretch of the race.
The lack of cash forced the Abrams campaign to cut ad spending leading up to the election.
Media outlets reported that Abrams spent more than $800,000 in ads during the final week of October. Her campaign was spending between $2 and $3 million in early October.
In the last week of October, Kemp spent more than $2.6 million, Axios reports.
Groh-Wargo initially said it was part of the campaign's effort to invest in digital resources. However, she told Axios last month that the campaign was "trimming everything [they] could.”
“We did not just lose. We got blown out,” Groh-Wargo told Axios. “It was the most sub-optimal situation to be in. And we will be dealing with that situation for some time.”