The Federal Election Commission has cleared the First District’s Republican congressman of accusations that he violated campaign finance laws.
Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents Coastal Georgia, received a letter Wednesday from the FEC clearing him of any wrongdoing.
The commission acknowledged what Carter already knew, that he acted legally in 2021 when he spent money to explore a possible race against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, without declaring himself a candidate.
The complaint was filed by the Georgia Democratic Party in August after Carter ran a statewide TV ad criticizing Major League Baseball for pulling its All-Star Game from the state.
In its complaint, the Democratic Party claimed Carter should have formally declared his Senate candidacy, in part because the $75,000 ad aired mostly outside his House district.
The FEC noted the ad never mentioned the Senate race.
Carter said Friday he is glad to have the complaint behind him.
“My priority has been and always will be serving Georgia’s First District,” he said following the FEC’s decision.
“Now that this frivolous ethics complaint is behind me, I will have more time to do exactly that. My campaign has always acted in good faith and today the FEC agreed.”
Carter considered a candidacy for the Senate but opted instead to run for a fifth two-year term of office in the House after more Republican candidates surfaced for the Senate seat. While unchallenged in the Republican primary, he will face Savannah attorney and Democrat Wade Herring in the Nov. 8 general election.
Carter called the complaint “political payback” when the Democrats filed it with the FEC last summer.
“When the other party is attacking you, I know I must have done something right,” Carter said in response to the ethics complaint in August. “Georgia Democrats are enraged that I continue to make it known that they are responsible for the economic and cultural loss Georgia endured when their threats caused the relocation of the (Major League Baseball) All-Star game.”
Carter sympathized with the economic pain MLB thumped onto small businesses when it canceled the game in Atlanta.
“As a small business owner for over 30 years, I have dedicated my time in office to helping and advocating for small businesses across my district and this state,” Carter said in August.
“Instead of attacking me, maybe Georgia Democrats should consider advocating and helping the mostly minority small businesses they caused harm to with their lies and threats.”
The MLB cited voting restrictions passed by the majority Republican state legislature as its reason for moving the all-star game to Denver. It parroted claims by Democrats that the new laws adversely affected minority voters.
Carter, as well as the state legislators who passed the new voting laws, denied those claims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
