It was supposed to be the crown jewel of the "New South." For a decade, the New Georgia Project Action Fund wasn’t just a name on a tax form; it was a political juggernaut that redefined how power shifted in one of the most stubborn swing states in America. You’ve probably heard the names: Stacey Abrams, Raphael Warnock. They were the architects. But if you look at the headlines today, in early 2026, the story isn't about victory laps. It’s about a messy, painful dissolution.
In October 2025, the news hit like a ton of bricks. The board of directors finally pulled the plug. Both the New Georgia Project (the 501(c)(3) nonprofit) and its hard-hitting sibling, the New Georgia Project Action Fund (the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm), officially announced they were dissolving. It wasn't some quiet sunset. It was a crash landing after years of financial scrutiny and high-stakes legal drama.
The Record-Breaking $300,000 Fine
Let’s be real: money and ethics are usually what sink the ship. For the New Georgia Project Action Fund, the iceberg was a record-breaking fine from the Georgia State Ethics Commission. Just a year ago, in January 2025, the group admitted to 16 violations of state campaign finance laws. We are talking about the largest fine in Georgia’s history—$300,000.
The core of the issue? The state argued that back in 2018, the group basically acted as an unregistered "Super PAC" to support Stacey Abrams' first run for governor. They spent millions—specifically over $3 million in expenses that they didn't properly disclose. Honestly, it was a clerical and legal nightmare that never really went away. The group agreed to pay that fine in installments through 2025 and 2026, but the damage to their reputation among big-money donors was already done.
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Internal Strife and the Leadership "Hostile Takeover"
Politics is a blood sport, but usually, the fighting is with the other side. Inside the New Georgia Project Action Fund, the 2024 election cycle was defined by what staff called a "hostile takeover."
Kendra Cotton, who had stepped in as CEO after Nsé Ufot left, was ousted by the board chair, Francys Johnson, in June 2024. It was messy. Like, lawsuit-level messy. Executives were quitting or getting fired left and right. At one point, four top leaders vanished within a few months.
- Candice Drummond, the Chief Development Officer, stopped attending meetings because of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Johnson.
- Chianeva Smith, the CFO, resigned in the middle of the 2024 chaos.
- Keron Blair, the head of field operations, was fired after a relationship investigation that reportedly found no actual wrongdoing.
When your leadership team is a revolving door, your field game suffers. In 2024, the group set a goal to knock on 3.7 million doors. They barely hit 500,000. That’s a massive failure for an organization that prided itself on being the ground game king of the South.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Shutdown
Some people think the New Georgia Project Action Fund just "ran out of work" because Georgia turned blue in 2020. That’s totally wrong. The work actually got harder. Between the state's new voting laws (like SB 189) and the aggressive purging of voter rolls—over 470,000 "inactive" voters were removed recently—the mountain was getting steeper.
The real reason they folded? A "stunning fall" from donor grace. Funders like the Democracy and Power Innovation Fund started looking elsewhere when they saw the internal disarray. If the money people don't trust the board, the checks stop coming.
Is the "New American Majority" Dead?
Not even close. While the New Georgia Project Action Fund is gone, the demographic shift they championed is still very much alive. Georgia is younger and more diverse than ever. Groups like Black Voters Matter and the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda are already absorbing the vacuum left behind. Gerald Griggs, the Georgia NAACP President, recently pointed out that their voter engagement is "stronger than it's ever been." They aren't waiting for a single nonprofit to save them.
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The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be a test of whether the "New Georgia" model can survive without its flagship organization. Governor Brian Kemp’s recent 2026 State of the State address focused heavily on tax rebates and infrastructure—clear plays for the middle-of-the-road voters. Without the Action Fund's massive door-knocking machine, Democrats are having to reinvent their strategy on the fly.
Practical Steps for Georgia Voters in 2026
If you’ve been following the New Georgia Project Action Fund because you care about voting rights, you shouldn't panic. But you do need to be proactive.
- Verify your status constantly. With the 2025-2026 voter roll maintenance, don't assume you're still registered. Use the Secretary of State’s "My Voter Page" every few months.
- Follow local election boards. The Action Fund used to do the heavy lifting of monitoring these boards. Now, that responsibility falls on local residents.
- Support the "Successor" groups. If you liked the Action Fund's mission, look into the NAACP or the New Pennsylvania/North Carolina Projects, which are using similar models but with different leadership structures.
The dissolution of the New Georgia Project Action Fund marks the end of an era. It’s a cautionary tale of what happens when a brilliant mission meets poor management and legal overreach. The "New Georgia" isn't a myth, but it’s going to need new architects to carry the torch through the 2026 election and beyond.
To stay active in Georgia's civic landscape, start by confirming your registration through the official Georgia Secretary of State portal and identifying the non-partisan voter advocacy groups currently operating in your specific county.