Fair Fight’s Comeback (?)
Fair Fight Action hasn’t been in the spotlight much lately. In fact, it’s been two years since they seemed particularly relevant. They’re currently $2.5 million in debt with just under $2 million cash on hand, which has diminished their influence. Fair Fight is undergoing a restructure by rehiring Lauren Groh-Wargo as the CEO. Groh-Wargo was the first CEO of Fair Fight Action. Although Fair Fight claims to have paid off its debt, Stacey Abrams, the twice-failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate, is no longer actively involved beyond her role as chair emeritus. Despite Biden’s narrow victory in 2020, Fair Fight is says it’s ramping up operations for this year with a campaign called “Let’s Freaking Go!” aimed at countering Georgia’s newer voter laws like SB 189 and SB 202. To be honest, the name of that campaign has the same excitable impact as “Jeb!” However, it might be too late to make a significant impact and I’m really not sad about that.
In January, Fair Fight had to make substantial staff cutbacks, laying off roughly three-quarters of its staff further diminishing their capacity. They haven’t made major headlines recently and definitely haven’t been as prominent as they were from 2018 to 2020. For instance, Fair Fight supported Kenya Wicks’ in the HD 180 primary and runoff. And, back in March, Fair Fight did make a push to “educate” Gen Z voters about Roe v. Wade. That said, those have really been the most substantial updates to FairFight. To paraphrase the late, great Toby Keith it “ain’t as good as it once was”.
The key questions now are about Fair Fight’s future goals. Is its primary function to keep Abrams’ name relevant? Will it continue to be a fundraising powerhouse? Or will it fade into obscurity without her active involvement? If Fair Fight doesn’t adapt and find new ways to assert its importance, it could easily become just another anonymous and ineffectual group. Because of that, it could be fair to say that there are probably several other middling groups, along with plenty of conservative organizations, that are probably relieved to see Abrams no longer dominating the political landscape. That means that there is a little more of the grift to go around without her there.
It’s fair to sum this up with two more questions: Without Abrams actively involved, how relevant is Fair Fight Action? And also, without Fair Fight Action as a focal point, how relevant is Stacey Abrams? Time will tell.
