The head of an embattled nonprofit founded by former Democratic Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams said on Monday that he intends to step down from his role, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Francys Johnson, who leads the New Georgia Project, told staff during a private meeting on Monday that the voting rights organization would soon be entering a “new era” and that he is resigning from leading the group, according to the AJC. Johnson’s resignation closely follows a number of challenges facing the organization, including backlash over recent employee layoffs, as well as a massive ethics fine issued in January for failing to disclose millions in political funding.
“I’ve probably done all the good I can do, and my presence is a distraction to our mission,” Johnson said in a recording of the phone call with staffers obtained by the AJC. “It’s unfortunate, and it’s a reality I can recognize. It’s time to let the organization move forward beyond all this.”
Abrams ran in both the 2018 and 2022 Georgia gubernatorial races, losing to Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp both times.
The nonprofit, which calls itself a “nonpartisan civic engagement organization,” is required to refrain from endorsing political candidates or engaging in partisan activity in order to maintain its tax-exempt status. Despite this, the New Georgia Project was slapped with a $300,000 fine from the Georgia State Ethics commission on Jan. 15 after the organization failed to disclose the millions of dollars it spent to support Abram’s 2018 gubernatorial run. This marked the largest fine ever issued in the state for violating Georgia campaign finance laws.
Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter then sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service on Jan. 16 calling for the agency to withdraw the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status and investigate the group for any additional federal law violations.
Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to increase the turnout of nonwhite and youth voters in Georgia, and ultimately stepped down from the group in 2017.
Georgia Democrats, including Abrams, claimed that Republicans’ 2021 voter integrity law suppressed nonwhite voters, calling it “racist” and “Jim Crow 2.0.” The state saw record early voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election, despite these claims.
Notably, during an August 2024 interview, Abrams signaled that she would be open to making a gubernatorial bid for a third time.
The New Georgia Project did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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