A critical Kentucky seat in the U.S. Senate will soon have a new face after former GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced his retirement in February, and Republican hopefuls appear to be gearing up for what will be a challenging primary.

Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s first Black attorney general and 2024 gubernatorial candidate, still remains the only declared Republican candidate so far after he announced his intention to run for the vacant seat just days after McConnell’s retirement address.

With first quarter fundraising numbers being released on Tuesday, another possible candidate has been seemingly busy building a war chest behind the scenes.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN ARM TOUTS 'UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM' WITH RECORD FUNDRAISING HAUL

Republican Rep. Andy Barr, R-Kentucky, who has hinted at a possible run though has not officially stepped into the race, posted a sizable $2.26 million raised since January, with approximately $5.35 million in cash on hand through various Political Action Committees.

Amanda Milward, a spokesperson for the Barr campaign, spoke with Fox News Digital after the numbers were posted on Tuesday. 

"Andy Barr is humbled by the outpouring of support from Kentuckians and donors across the country for his strong America First leadership," Milward explained. "As Andy considers running for the U.S. Senate, it is clear that Kentucky Republicans want leaders who will not only stand with President Trump, but who also have the drive and resources to win. We cannot afford to lose another statewide race."

Cameron posted $507,656 in campaign contributions and $455,395 cash on hand after expenditures. 

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"From every corner of Kentucky to supporters across the country, folks are rallying behind our campaign because they’re ready for a true America First fighter—someone who will stand up for our values and advance President Trump’s agenda in the U.S. Senate," Cameron told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "We’re pressing forward, the path to victory is clear, and we’re not looking back."

Former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell was elected to the coveted seat in 1985, making him the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history. 

However, McConnell’s endorsement may not carry the weight it did some years ago, given the tumultuous relationship between the Kentucky senator and President Donald Trump. Sources close to the race told Fox News Digital that a McConnell endorsement would actually do more harm than good and that the endorsement from President Trump is the key to the ticket. 

While President Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate, he has made comments about both Cameron and Barr in the past. 

Last week at the White House, the president made a nod to Barr’s attendance during a press conference, telling the likely candidate "good luck with everything, I hear good things."

GOP SENATOR REVEALS WHY TRUMP'S 'COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT' WILL BE CRUCIAL FOR HIS MIDTERM RACE

Notably, a Trump endorsement for Cameron would not be the first, as the 45th and 47th president endorsed Cameron for governor in October 2023. Following Cameron’s loss to Democrat Andy Beshear, Trump blamed ties with McConnell as the reason for the defeat.

"Daniel Cameron lost because he couldn’t alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell," Trump posted to Truth Social. "I told him early that’s a big burden to overcome. McConnell and Romney are Kryptonite for Republican Candidates. I moved him up 25 Points, but the McConnell relationship was ‘too much to bear."

To shake things up even more, a third possible candidate is eyeing a possible run for the hotly contested seat.

Wealthy businessman Nate Morris, CEO of Morris Industries and former CEO of Rubicon Investments, has also been in the mix of possible names in the primary. 

Morris has already targeted ties to McConnell as a possible weakness for a potential victor, posting on X that "the last thing Kentucky needs is another puppet for Mitch McConnell."

Who the sitting president plans to support remains unclear, though it seems his endorsement in the race may be one of the more substantial in the upcoming midterm election. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Nate Morris for comment but did not receive a response.

Another leader and military veteran has thrown his name into the growing list of candidates in Michigan's governor's race to replace term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

On Monday, Republican Rep. John James, a Trump ally, announced he was launching his bid for governor, becoming the latest GOP candidate to jump in the primary. 

"I'm running for Governor of the great state of Michigan," James shared in a statement on X. "This decision comes after deep reflection, prayer, and a conversation with my wife and children."

James now joins the state’s Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt as the latest major Republican to jump into the gubernatorial primary, the Hill reported. Meanwhile, the candidates in the race for the Democratic primary include Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, while Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent. 

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"Faith and Family. God and Country. Service Before Self. Michigan First," James posted in the announcement. 

James stated that "our state has suffered long enough" and says they are being held back by a "lack of strong, competent leadership."

"For the past seven years, Michigan has been dominated by radical, out-of-touch policies that have hurt our families, our communities, and our economy," James explained in his reasons for running for governor. 

James said that the state has lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he equated to nearly a third of their industrial base, saying "that's unacceptable." 

"It's time to get Michigan's government out of fantastyland and back to common sense," James wrote.  

"President Trump and I have been in each other's corner through thick and thin for eight years-no reason that will end now. He's doing his part to Make America Great Again, and I'll do mine to bring prosperity and sanity back to Michigan," James pledged.

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James was first elected to Congress in 2022, becoming Michigan’s first Black Republican member of Congress, and represents the state's 10th Congressional District. 

James would also become the first Black governor of Michigan if elected. 

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He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate twice before, losing to Democrat Debbie Stabenow in 2018 and to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in 2020.

"Make Michigan Great Again," James wrote in a previous post on X, sharing a video from Rapid Response 47 about Flint, MI.

James served eight years of active duty military service as a Ranger-qualified aviation officer, according to his biography on the district's website.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon said that James' announcement is good news for Republicans for continued growth in Congress. 

"Republicans are well-positioned to hold Michigan’s 10th congressional district as we retain and grow our majority in Congress. Michiganders rejected the out of touch Democrats’ radical agenda in 2024, and they’ll do it again in 2026," Bannon shared in a statement. 

Bannon noted that both President Trump and Rep. James won Michigan's 10th district by over 6% in 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: One of the country’s leading consumer protection firms released a report today exposing a "shady lawyer pipeline" of politicians handing out lucrative public contracts to trial lawyers, who in turn contribute millions of dollars to liberal political campaigns, including $1.4 million to the Harris-Walz campaign in 2024.

The report, released by Alliance for Consumers (AFC), highlights the deep Democratic ties of eight major consumer protection law firms — Morgan & Morgan, Lieff Cabraser, Motley Rice, Baron & Budd, Grant & Eisenhofer, Berger Montague, Cohen Milstein and Simmons Hanly — which it dubs the "Shady Eight."

According to AFC, these firms hold profitable public contracts across the country and contributed around $25 million in political donations from 2017 through 2024.

In 2024 alone, the firms collectively donated $4 million to political campaigns, 99% of which were for Democrat candidates or Democrat-allied committees.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP FIREBRAND DARES DEMS TO CONDEMN ATTACKS ON ELON MUSK'S TESLA

During the 2024 presidential election, the firms contributed $1.4 million to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.  

The shady eight also prioritized midterm Senate races, the report found, with Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and former Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Bob Casey, D–Pa.; and Jon Tester, D–Mont., receiving the largest contributions next to Harris.

Five of the firms — Lieff Cabraser, Motley Rice, Grant & Eisenhofer, Simmons Hanly and Baron & Budd — showed a 100% commitment to Democrats and their allies, generating more than $2.5 million in federal donations in 2024.

"The consumer should never be on the losing side of a left-wing political money game like what is on display in the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline," AFC says in its report. "This partisan political giving is supported by money from public contracts signed by politicians and public officials; money that belongs to the taxpayers and consumers."

TESLA HYPOCRISY: DEMS CONTINUE INVESTING IN ELON MUSK COMPANY DESPITE PAINTING HIM AS VILLAIN

AFC said "the ‘Shady Eight’ are stark examples — although far from the only ones — of how the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline works, with politicians feeding sweetheart contracts to trial lawyers who give 99% of their political donations to liberals and will happily turn around and pump millions of dollars into left-leaning candidates, committees, and allied organizations."

O.H. Skinner, executive director of the AFC, told Fox News Digital the report "shows how left-wing trial lawyers have turned consumer protection efforts into a political game."

He urged states to move to end their contracts with these "shady" law firms.

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"The contracts that states have with these firms make some sense if the goal is funding left-wing political campaigns, but, for many reasons, they are exactly the wrong way to protect consumers," he said. "Ending the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline is one of the strongest steps public officials can take to protect consumers and the rule of law."

This comes as Republicans in Congress move to rein in "out of control" rulings by activist judges that have inhibited some of the most highly-prioritized aspects of the Trump administration’s agenda, such as immigration enforcement and the deportation of criminal migrant gang members.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, who is facing charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent, is now on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s "frontline list" for the 2026 election, which is gaining scrutiny from the group’s GOP rival.

Cuellar, who represents a district along the southern border, was not part of the program meant to assist Democrats at risk of losing their election in 2024, but he still won re-election in November.  

"The DCCC throwing cash at Henry Cuellar, an indicted congressman facing bribery and foreign agent charges, is certainly a choice. Do other frontline Democrats stand by pumping campaign cash into defending a corrupt and sleazy politician?" NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement Thursday.

DEMOCRAT CONGRESSMAN ADMITS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DID NOT ‘FOCUS ENOUGH’ ON CURBING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The Department of Justice under the Biden administration indicted Cuellar and his wife for allegedly taking roughly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-owned energy company and a Mexican bank, according to a news release at the time.

"I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas. Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm," Cuellar said in a statement at the time, according to KGNS.

At the time of the indictment, President Donald Trump said it may have had to do with border politics.

"Biden just Indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game," Trump said in a Truth Social post at the time. "He was for Border Control, so they said, ‘Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!’ This is the way they operate. They’re a bunch of D.C. Thugs, and at some point they will be paying a very big price for what they have done to our Country." 

Cuellar also recently told Fox News he's disagreed with some aspects of the Biden administration's approach on the border crisis. 

In 2024, some Democrats opposed his campaign in the primary due to his belief that abortion should be a state issue, according to Punchbowl News. 

His office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Two "advisors" tied to the case have already pleaded guilty, according to The Texas Tribune.

As for Cuellar, his trial was pushed back to this year. The DCCC declined to comment.

The DCCC program has 26 incumbent members of Congress it plans to invest resources in to retain their seats.

TEXAS DEMOCRAT SAYS HE CAN FIND 'COMMON GROUND' WITH TRUMP'S INCOMING BORDER CZAR

"These 26 House Democrats are battle-tested and laser-focused on pocketbook issues. Democrats are poised to retake the majority in 2026, and these members will help us do that," the DCCC tweeted on Thursday.

Republicans have an narrow House majority they hope to defend and expand in 2026.

EXCLUSIVE: Riley Gaines has championed fairness in women's sports. Will it lead her to the campaign trail?

The former NCAA swimmer-turned-conservative activist has vowed to help unseat any Democrat who is enabling the inclusion of trans athletes in girls' and women's sports. That list added 45 senators to it on Monday night, after every Senate Democrat voted against the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act." 

Gaines spent Monday in Minnesota, rallying supporters to advocate for a state bill aimed at protecting femal athletes from trans inclusion. However, that bill also failed to pass, falling short in the Minnesota House of Representatives. 

After Gaines helped President Donald Trump and Republicans capitalize on national outrage over Democrats allowing trans inclusion in girls' sports, she now turns her attention to inflicting further consequences on the DNC in the 2026 midterms, as the party has seemingly refused to budge on the issue. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

However, Gaines also is not ruling out the possibility of taking matters into her own hands, and eventually running for public office, she told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview last Friday. 

"It's never what I saw myself doing," said Gaines, who majored in health sciences at the University of Kentucky and originally planned to pursue dentistry. 

"But now, of course, with this issue and more, I would say the whole America-first agenda. I am just so passionate, I care so deeply, and I love it, so we'll see. It's definitely not something I would rule out. I don't think I'm that crazy yet, because I do think you have to be a bit clinically insane to voluntarily do that. But I do believe that maybe eventually influencing policy in that way is something I see myself doing." 

Gaines said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would be her top role model in a potential political career. 

"She's so fierce, and she is so strong, and what you see is what you get," Gaines said. "She stands firm for what she knows to be true, for what she knows to be right and righteous and moral and just. And I think we need more of that. We don't have a lot of that, it is a very rare trait, especially in the political sphere." 

Gaines' political resume already includes three years of highly-visible activism in the space of protecting women's sports. This past week, a law named after her, "The Riley Gaines Act," passed in the Georgia House of Representatives, which seeks to ban trans athletes in girls' and women's sports in that state. 

After campaigning for Trump and Republicans in 2024, Gaines has become a rapidly-ascending conservative counterculture figure, leading the popular "Gaines for Girls" OutKick podcast. 

This past week, she also led a pre-race prayer at the NASCAR Cup Series’ EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

If and when Gaines does become crazy enough to throw her hat into the arena with her own political campaign, she already has the confidence of at least one prominent GOP figure. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has worked closely with Gaines as a legislative ally in the battle to keep males out of women's and girls' sports. Blackburn was a co-sponsor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, and in total, has proposed three pieces of legislation to address the issue. 

Blackburn, from working with Gaines on that issue, has confidence that the former swimmer and aspiring dentist could achieve anything she seeks to do.  

"I think Riley has the ability to pursue whatever she wants to pursue," Blackburn previously told Fox News Digital. "She thought she would be a dentist, and life has taken some interesting turns, and I am so pleased to see the work that she's doing to protect women and girls." 

Gaines has already been outspoken on issues beyond women's sports, taking a stance firmly in line with Trump and the Republican mainstream on issues like immigration and border security, U.S. relations with Ukraine and rolling back DEI. She has made these stances clear and consistent in her social media activity going back multiple years now. 

However, for the time being, Gaines is focused on setting back the political careers of the Democrats who have voted to keep trans athletes in women's and girls' sports. 

Immediately after Monday night's Senate vote, Gaines took to social media to call out the Democrats who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, and rally her supporters to oppose them. Gaines specifically pointed out Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.

"You have a daughter. Have you no shame? Georgians are watching. I will make it my mission to do what I can to remove you from your senate seat in 2026," Gaines wrote over a photo that showed the names of every Democratic senator who voted against the bill. 

Gaines previously told Fox News Digital that she is expecting the support of elected Republican officials, including Trump, in her efforts to unseat these senators. She also claims that some of the Democrats that she will look to unseat are already opposed to trans inclusion. 

"In some of these private confidential conversations that I have had with several Democratic senators, they assure me that they know it's absurd to allow men into women's sports and that they wouldn't want it to happen to their daughters. But they hide behind many different excuses," Gaines said. 

After those alleged Senators hid behind their excuses, they have officially made an adversary out of Gaines, and the DNC may even have to prepare for Gaines to be an adversary for many years to come.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

In commemoration of Presidents Day, a top DOGE senator is seeking to claw back $400 million sitting in a "slush fund" set up to help presidential candidates that hasn’t borne fruit since Y2K.

Through the Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act, Sen. Joni Ernst said she hopes to defund an account she calls "welfare for politicians."

"This Presidents Day I am fighting for the integrity of the office because the last thing we need to spend tax dollars on is more political attack ads," said Ernst, R-Iowa.

"There is no better way to pay down the $36 trillion debt than by defunding welfare for politicians. Washington should be working to benefit all Americans instead of itself."

DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS

Ernst, the chair of the DOGE caucus in the upper chamber, remarked the fund has not been successfully utilized in decades.

The last winning presidential candidate to pull from the fund was Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, and later in 2004.

Since then, a handful of unsuccessful candidates have utilized it, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Green Party candidate Jill Stein; both in the 2024 cycle.

Pence’s campaign reportedly received more than $1 million from the fund amid his GOP primary bid, while Stein utilized $380,000.

The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also received $84.1 million from the fund in 2008. An FEC release from that time said nominees of major parties are entitled to $20 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment back to 1974. 

Defunding the account was first floated as one of several proposals in a DOGE-centric November letter from Ernst to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Stein told Fox News Digital the candidates' fund was "raided" of $375 million, and that Democrats too have tried to moot the effectiveness of the fund by trying to put public funding "out of reach of grassroots candidates" through their H.R.-1 (the For the People Act) during the Biden era.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS ISSUES THAT SPURRED DOGE'S GENESIS CAME FULL CIRCLE WITH TRUMP FIXES

A checkbox on the IRS' 1099 tax form asks filers whether they would like to pay $3 into the fund, which Stein said showed it is different than other public monies.

"It's outrageous," Stein said, calling the effort to end the fund "part of a bipartisan, anti-democratic effort to stifle competition in presidential elections – specifically by denying voters the option to support publicly financed candidates who refuse the legalized bribery of big corporate contributions."

Stein added that a majority of voters have called for presidential candidates outside the two major parties, citing a Gallup survey showing they "do such a poor job" of representing Americans.

"Publicly funded campaigns are the antidote to the massive legalized corruption that puts more money in the hands of billionaires than ever… the American people abhor the corporate buyout of our elections," Stein said.

"As life becomes increasingly unlivable for everyday Americans, while billionaire wealth skyrockets, the demand to end the sale of our democracy will be unstoppable, through simple reforms including publicly funded elections, inclusive debates, ranked choice voting, ending obstructive ballot access laws and voter suppression, and more."

"Eliminating public funding denies voters the option to support candidates who refuse pay-to-play politics."

A source familiar said FEC rules also allow candidates to continue seeking public funds for campaign debt.

IRS Code 9006, with footnotes dating the fund to at least the 1970s, allows for eligible candidates to be paid out of the fund "upon receipt of a certification from the [Federal Election] Commission."

"Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the control of such candidates."

In 2014, the portion of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund allocated to assist political parties with their conventions was redirected to pediatric cancer research through an act of Congress.

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Then-Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., drafted a bill later signed by President Barack Obama that diverted such funds to an NIH research initiative.

Then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., gave the measure a major leadership push after he heard the case of a young Leesburg girl afflicted with the disease and decided to name the legislation the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in her name.

Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Pence for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: The Republican National Committee has staffed up with new senior leadership to support President Trump’s agenda and work to elect Republican candidates "who will fight to Make America Great Again," Fox News Digital has learned. 

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley brought on a slate of new senior staff at the GOP—all bringing campaign expertise stemming from several election cycles and experience in the private sector. 

RNC CHAIR WHATLEY VOWS TO BE 'TIP OF THE SPEAR' TO PROTECT TRUMP AFTER COASTING TO RE-ELECTION VICTORY

"After a historic victory in 2024, taking back the White House and securing majorities in both chambers of Congress, Republicans are just getting started delivering on promises made," Whatley told Fox News Digital. 

"As America enters the new golden age under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, I am thrilled to announce our extraordinary RNC team, who will work around the clock to support President Trump’s agenda and elect Republican candidates who will fight to Make America Great Again," he said. 

The RNC has brought on Mike Ambrosini to serve as chief of staff. Ambrosini previously served as the director of the RNC’s State Party Strategies. He also served in the first Trump administration and held roles in Congress, the private sector, and served as the executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. 

RNC officials told Fox News Digital that Ambrosini is "the perfect person to bring everyone to the table, navigate challenges, and implement a winning strategy." 

Whatley has also brought on Rob Secaur as the new RNC political director. Secaur served as deputy political director for the 2024 Trump campaign, after serving as an RNC regional political director. 

SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS 2026 MISSION

To run messaging, Whatley tapped Zach Parkinson as RNC communications director. Parkinson served as the RNC’s research director and deputy communications director overseeing the GOP’s opposition research and rapid response efforts. 

Parkinson also provided research to the Trump 2024 campaign; served as deputy communications director for the Trump 2020 campaign; and worked in communications and research roles at the Trump White House from 2017 to 2019. 

Meanwhile, to run GOP finance, Mallory Gerndt has been elevated to finance director from her current role on the RNC finance team, where she has served since 2017. 

Gerndt was the deputy finance director for the RNC throughout the 2024 election cycle. 

RNC officials told Fox News Digital that Gerndt has a reputation for "setting and meeting fundraising goals to help deliver for President Trump’s America First agenda." 

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR MAKES 2026 PREDICTION

Whatley also announced Zach Imel as RNC data director. Imel served as director of external data & voter contact for Team Trump during the 2024 campaign. Previously, Imel oversaw RNC data efforts during the 2022 and 2020 cycles. 

Whatley also brought on Brent Brooks to serve as digital director. Brooks, according to GOP officials, has played "a key role" in raising millions of dollars and developing "VotePro," which the RNC billed as a "crucial app that empowered millions of Republican voters to get involved, take action, cast their ballots, and win in 2024." 

As for RNC efforts across the nation, Whatley has tapped Tom Smithfield to serve as State Party Strategies Director. 

Smithfield served as State Party Strategies deputy director during the 2024 cycle and as deputy national field director in 2022. Smithfield also served as deputy state director for Trump Victory in Pennsylvania in 2020 and for the Pennsylvania GOP in 2018. 

Whatley told Fox News Digital that as Trump "delivers on his promises," Republicans plan to also "look to the future." 

"The RNC will play a pivotal role," Whatley said. "Our team will continue to grow the party, get out the vote, secure our elections and keep on winning." 
 

A pair of voting advocacy groups founded by failed Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams were hit with a historic fine by the Georgia Ethics Commission for violating campaign finance laws to bolster Abram's 2018 election.  

"Today the State Ethics Commission entered into a consent agreement with the New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund for a total of $300,000," the Georgia State Ethics Commission posted in a statement on Wednesday. "This certainly represents the largest fine imposed in the history of Georgia's Ethics Commission, but it also appears to be the largest ethics fine ever imposed by any state ethics commission in the country related to an election and campaign finance case."

Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 as part of an effort to register more minority voters and young voters. The organization was founded as a charity that can accept tax-deductible donations, while the New Georgia Project Action Fund worked as the organization's fundraising arm. 

The groups admitted to failing to disclose about $4.2 million in contributions and $3.2 million in expenditures that were used during Abram's election efforts in 2018, according to the commission's consent order. The groups were hit with a total of 16 violations, including failing to register as a political committee and failure to disclose millions of dollars in political contributions.

STACEY ABRAMS SAYS TRUMP RE-ELECTION WAS NOT A 'SEISMIC SHIFT' OR 'LANDSLIDE'

The groups were accused of carrying out similar activity in 2019, when they reportedly failed to disclose $646,000 in contributions and $174,000 while advocating for a ballot initiative. 

STACEY ABRAMS ACCUSES CNN HOST OF 'REPEATING DISINFORMATION' ABOUT HER CASTING DOUBT ON 2018 ELECTION RESULTS
 

"This represents the largest and most significant instance of an organization illegally influencing our statewide elections in Georgia that we have ever discovered, and I believe this sends a clear message to both the public and potential bad actors moving forward that we will hold you accountable," the ethics commission continued in its statement Wednesday. 

STACEY ABRAMS PRAISED ON ‘THE VIEW’ FOR NOT CONCEDING ELECTION, DEFENDS SAYING SHE ‘WON’ GEORGIA RACE IN 2018

Abrams stepped down from the group in 2017, with Sen. Raphael Warnock taking the reins as the New Georgia Project’s CEO from 2017 to 2019, the Associated Press reported. Warnock was elected as a U.S. senator from Georgia in 2020. 

A spokesperson for Warnock's Senate office told the AP that he was working "as a longtime champion for voting rights" and that he was not aware of campaign violations. The spokesperson added that "compliance decisions were not a part of that work." Fox Digital also reached out to Warnock's office for additional comment but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Abrams ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 and 2022, but lost to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in both races. Abrams drew national attention after the 2018 race when she refused to concede to the Republican despite losing by 60,000 votes. 

STACEY ABRAMS ON NOT CONCEDING GEORGIA LOSS: WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO 'LEGITIMATELY QUESTION' SYSTEMS

Amid the 2018 race, she touted the New Georgia Project on her X account, which was called Twitter at the time.

"When Abrams sees a problem, she doesn’t wait for someone else to step up – she does it herself. So when she saw that 800,000 people of color in Georgia weren't registered to vote, Abrams immediately set out to fix the problem & founded The New GA Project," she tweeted. 

The New Georgia Project said in a comment provided to Fox News Digital that they are "glad to finally put this matter behind us" so the group can "fully devote its time and attention to its efforts to civically engage and register black, brown, and young voters in Georgia."

"While we remain disappointed that the federal court ruling on the constitutionality of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act was overturned on entirely procedural grounds, we accept this outcome and are eager to turn the page on activities that took place more than five years ago," the group continued. 

FIRST ON FOX: The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative-leaning ethics watchdog, released a year-end round up of 2024's worst ethics violations committed by public officials that the group investigated this year.

The theme for this year's report was ethics violations tied to efforts to win elected office. The violations ranged from failures to disclose financial information and violations of federal contribution limits, to "blatant" Hatch Act violations and officials seemingly using campaign funds for their own personal pleasure. 

FACT is a nonprofit based in the nation's capital that was formed in 2014, and describes itself as "dedicated to promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas." At the end of each year, the watchdog unveils its top ten worst violators.

‘COMPLETE INACTION’: CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS VIOLATORS OF 2023 HAVE YET TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, WATCHDOG SAYS

"It is important to note the alarming detail that there is not one particular ethics rule implicated among them, rather they cover a wide variety of fronts, including the laws enforced by the Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Congressional Ethics," the 2024 report states. "It’s clear these top violators too often prioritize themselves over serving their constituents."

READ THE REPORT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

One of the examples FACT cited involved Wisconsin Democratic member of Congress, Gwen Moore, whose political action committee under her control spent 94.8% of its funds on things like food and travel, such as catering, food delivery, restaurants, hotels, a resort in California's wine country and alcohol, according to the report. 

The report said that Moore's leadership PAC spent almost eight-times more on this than it did on its required purpose of supporting candidates.

Moore ultimately beat her GOP challenger in November by a wide margin, keeping her in control of the Milwaukee-area congressional district. The congresswoman's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Two other violations from the report included Hatch Act violations. The Hatch Act is aimed at ensuring that the government functions in a nonpartisan manner and bars certain public officials from engaging in political activities while they are on duty. 

FACT's report charged President Joe Biden's Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, with sending "a blatant political email," two months before November's election, which was described in a media report at the time as "a sales pitch for Kamala Harris."

‘WILLFUL COVERUP’: DEMOCRAT IN KEY HOUSE RACE HIT WITH ETHICS COMPLAINT THAT COULD DERAIL CAMPAIGN

The official email from HHS was sent to people who signed up to receive updates on the government's Medicare program, which means it could have reached up to 67.5 million recipients, according to FACT. While the email did not directly say "vote for Harris," it lauded Harris for casting a tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, noting that the move from Harris served to lower healthcare costs.

HHS did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

Other ethics violations included in FACT's round-up were several instances of misused or misrepresented campaign funds. 

The report highlighted outgoing Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone, who earned backlash during this year's election cycle for allegedly funding his campaign with money earned through his Total Wine empire despite claiming he had stepped away from his family's wine business after being elected to Congress in 2018. Trone, who left the House to run for Maryland's open Senate seat this year – losing in the primary – failed to disclose his interest in numerous Total Wine franchises in the lead up to the election, the report alleged. 

Representatives for Trone did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The report also claims that Rep.-elect Eugene Vindman, who recently took over Virginia's seventh congressional district with a win last month, received campaign contributions significantly exceeding those allowed under federal law. VoteVets PAC, a political action committee supporting left-leaning veterans running for Congress, was reportedly engaging in illegal campaign work for Vindman's campaign by acting as their press liaison.

Vindman's campaign manager did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

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Together, all of these examples and more lay out what FACT's Executive Director Kendra Arnold called "a preview" of what elected officials are like when nobody is looking. 

"We uncover and file complaints on all types of ethics violations, but this year the ones committed in the campaign stage unfortunately stood out," Arnold told Fox News Digital. "Of all the types of violations it could easily be argued that those committed to get into office are among the very worst."