A donor caught our eye as we skimmed through U.S. Rep. Karen Handel's latest campaign finance filings this week: one Thomas Edmunds Price. A political action committee linked to the former health secretary and Sixth District congressman donated $2,000 to his successor last month, the new fundraising report shows.
Turns out Price, who has largely laid low since resigning under pressure in September 2017, has been slowly spending the more than $1.85 million he has sitting in his old congressional campaign account.
Between July and October, the Roswell Republican contributed to the campaigns of state Rep. Betty Price, his wife, and state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of Marietta, a physician with whom he once practiced.
Price has also donated the maximum $6,600 to statewide GOP candidates Brian Kemp, Geoff Duncan, Brad Raffensperger and Chris Carr. He separately contributed $10,000 to the Georgia Republican party and the Fulton County GOP, and also kicked in for the statehouse bids of Leah Aldridge, the Atlanta attorney challenging state Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta, and Alex Kaufman, the Republican vying to replace retiring state Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs.
It's commonplace for ex-lawmakers to use their old campaign accounts to give to other candidates, political committees or charities – the Tampa Bay Times did a big investigation into such "zombie" campaign accounts earlier this year. It's especially prevalent among former officials mulling a return to politics.
Price, our colleague Ariel Hart reported last month, has begun dipping his feet back into public life in recent months. He joined the board of Jackson Health Care, a politically-connected health care company, sat down for a podcast with former Obama adviser David Axelrod and has periodically given speeches about health care – some of which have drawn quite a bit of attention.
Over the last year, he’s also cut big checks to House Speaker Paul Ryan and the National Republican Campaign Committee. His congressional committee’s other big expense? Legal fees.
Insiders note: This post was ripped from today’s Morning Jolt, which can be found here.
About the Author
