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Safe Affordable Georgia, Inc.v.Chairman of the State Ethics Commission et al.

CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Docket No.26-10312
DecidedOctober 26, 2026
JudgesBefore WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and JORDAN and GRANT, Circuit Judges.
Tags
CivilElection LawMootnessFederal JurisdictionPreliminary Injunction
Case Summary

A committee supporting Brad Raffensperger challenged Georgia rules that let rival gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones use a leadership committee to raise and spend money without the limits the plaintiff faced. It sought emergency relief for the 2026 Republican primary. By the time the appeal reached the Eleventh Circuit, the primary and Raffensperger’s campaign had ended. The court held that an injunction could no longer give the committee meaningful relief. The exception for disputes capable of repetition but evading review did not apply because the record did not establish a reasonable, nonspeculative prospect that this same committee would face the same situation again. The court dismissed the appeal and directed dismissal of the case as moot, without deciding whether the campaign-finance rules violated the First Amendment. Judge Jordan wrote separately on the recurrence analysis.

Opinion

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The Far Side comic: I told you guys to slow down and take it easy or something like this would happen.