Sports betting, other special interests spend big on Georgia elections

Independent political committees have spent more than $25 million to influence this year’s elections in Georgia, already surpassing the total spent during the 2022 midterms, new campaign disclosures show.

Sports-betting advocates accounted for nearly half the independent spending, pumping $12.3 million into legislative races across the state. Independent groups spent millions more backing unsuccessful Republican candidates for governor Chris Carr and Brad Raffensperger, with interests ranging from Planned Parenthood to Georgia Realtors rounding out the top spenders.

The $25.3 million total doesn’t include at least $19 million spent by a mysterious dark-money group that targeted Lt. Gov. Burt Jones as he ran for governor this year.

The influx of special-interest money could help set an agenda for Georgia politics that doesn’t necessarily coincide with what voters want, according to University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.

“If you’re asking voters, ‘what is your major concern,’ I doubt that it’s sports betting,” Bullock said.

Georgia law limits campaign contributions to candidates for public office. This year, the maximum contribution to candidates for governor and other statewide offices is $8,400 for each primary and general election, plus another $4,800 for runoff elections.

Independent committees can raise unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates — but only if they don’t coordinate their spending with the candidates.

No group has taken advantage of that unlimited spending this year more than Win for America, which is funded by DraftKings, FanDuel and other sports betting companies. Win for America has funneled money into two Georgia political committees — one to support Republicans, the other to support Democrats.

The Republican committee — American Conservative Fund Action Georgia — spent $8.5 million to support or oppose legislative candidates in the first half of 2026, records show. The Democratic group — American Future — spent $3.4 million.

In May, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that nearly all the 34 candidates supported by the sports-betting groups won their primary election, though the industry spending likely wasn’t the decisive factor in most of those races.

Georgia is one of the largest states not to have legalized sports betting, and there’s been a perennial push to do so in the General Assembly. But the effort has faced bipartisan opposition from lawmakers concerned about the social costs of gambling and questions about how the industry would be regulated.

A Win for America spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. In May, a representative of the group said it supports “candidates who will thoughtfully approach the tax revenue and job opportunities our industry provides.”

The other top spenders among independent committees were groups backing Carr ($3.4 million in spending) and Raffensperger ($2.4 million). But the groups are noteworthy as much for where their money came from as how they spent it.

Keep Georgia Strong Action, which supported Carr, received its biggest contributions after he failed to advance to the Republican primary runoff for governor. In June, an Oklahoma-based group called Shaping Health Initiatives for Tomorrow contributed $3 million to Keep Georgia Strong Action, which spent the money on ads opposing Jones ahead of his unsuccessful runoff with eventual GOP nominee Rick Jackson.

Shaping Health Initiatives for Tomorrow also appears to be responsible for ads this year targeting Tennessee lawmakers who supported legislation regulating pharmacy benefit managers — companies that manage prescription drug benefits for health insurers. A Georgia House of Representatives committee is studying similar legislation this year.

Representatives from Carr’s campaign and Keep Georgia Strong Action did not respond to requests for comment.

The group supporting Raffensperger, Hardworking Georgia Families, got most of its money from two groups with ties to Raffensperger.

Its biggest contributor was the Election Defense Fund, a nonprofit founded to promote confidence in elections and to defend election workers from lawsuits. Its officers have included Ryan Germany, who previously worked as Raffensperger’s general counsel at the secretary of state’s office.

Raffensperger himself promoted the Election Defense Fund before the 2024 election, saying it was needed to protect that year’s election results against interference.

It’s unclear how much the group raised and how it spent all its money. But over the last year it contributed $2.1 million to Hardworking Georgia Families, which spent the money mostly on ads supporting Raffensperger’s candidacy.

A second group — Integrity Works for Georgia Action — gave $273,000 to Hardworking Georgia Families. Records show the group has the same address and officers as the Election Defense Fund.

Representatives of those groups and Raffensperger’s campaign did not respond to requests for comments.

Other top independent spenders this year include Conservatives for Strong Schools ($831,929), Planned Parenthood Votes ($746,867) and Georgia Realtors IE Committee ($725,598). But several dozen other independent groups also spent money to influence Georgia elections.

The group behind perhaps the biggest such effort to influence Georgia elections this year didn’t bother registering with the State Ethics Commission or reporting its expenditures. Georgians for Integrity spent at least $19 million on ads attacking Jones.

The group did not explicitly mention the election or urge Georgians to support or oppose a particular candidate in the governor’s race. Instead, it focused on Jones’ business dealings, suggesting he and his family had profited from his public office.

The State Ethics Commission has charged the group with lobbying and campaign finance violations. The case is still pending.

Bullock said the proliferation of independent spending underscores the stakes of this year’s election. There’s a tight race for governor between Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Democrats see a chance to end Republicans’ control of the state House of Representatives.