An organization controlled by Mayor Lester Miller directed more than $100,000 to support and oppose candidates running for local and state offices, a Melody investigation found.

The money was filtered through different organizations and most candidates targeted were surprised to learn of expenditures on their behalf. 

Miller was re-elected last year to serve a second and final four-year term, according to the current county charter. However, he has asked local state representatives and senators to amend the charter so that he may run for a third term. 

Miller is the CEO of Advance Alliance of Georgia Action Fund Inc., a nonprofit created in 2023, according to records from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Corporations Division. Miller contributed $170,000 from his campaign to the nonprofit, according to his campaign finance disclosures reports. 

Miller declined  to be interviewed by a Melody reporter but agreed to respond to questions via email. He said the contribution to Advance Alliance was “to support its mission,” which is to promote “civic engagement and policy advocacy in the areas of public safety, education, economic development, and good governance.” 

Advance Alliance contributed a sum of $116,500 to a new independent committee called Macon-Bibb Forward Together Inc., campaign finance disclosures show. The committee is registered to David Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Piedmont Construction, the company hired to build the county’s new $44 million amphitheater. 

Thompson did not respond to requests for comment.

Advance Alliance is the sole financial contributor to Macon-Bibb Forward Together, which reported paying Southern Majority, a political consultant firm owned by Amy Morton, a sum of $101,914 for work in support of certain candidates running for seats on the Macon-Bibb County Commission and the Macon Water Authority Board. 

Morton’s firm was contracted by the county in 2021 to manage its Macon Violence Prevention program on behalf of the county for $23,200.

Miller has paid Southern Majority nearly half a million dollars from his own campaign for consultant work.

Campaign finance records show Southern Majority was paid the following sums to operate phone banks, distribute campaign literature and other campaign-related work targeting candidates including:

• $24,353 in support of Melvin Flowers, who lost to Stanley Stewart in the race for the District 3 seat on the county commission, which includes the county’s east side. 
• $20,992 in support of Marshall Talley, the mayor-endorsed candidate who lost to Desmond Brown in the race for the District 2 seat on the Macon Water Authority Board. 
• $5,000 in support of and $10,091 in opposition to Desmond Brown, who defeated Marshall Talley in the  Macon Water Authority Board race.
• $19,981  in support of Raymond Wilder, who won against NewTown office manager George Thomas in a race for the county commission District 6 seat, which represents the county’s west side. 
• $11,097  in support of Brendalyn Bailey, who won a county commission seat for District 9, which includes a portion of central Bibb County, after vying with other candidates including Thomas Hudson, Renolda Scott and Greg Turner. 
• $3,400  in support of Kim Jenkins, who lost to Donice Bryant in the race for the county commission District 7 seat, which includes the southern end of the county. 

Macon-Bibb Forward Together hired a different consultant for work in opposition of Juawn Jackson, who lost a bid for the state representative seat to the mayor-endorsed Rep. Tangie Herring. At the time, Jackson was serving on the Bibb County Board of Education along with Daryl Morton, who is married to Amy Morton. 

Macon-Bibb Forward Together paid $11,894 to Red Clay Political, a Savannah-based consulting firm, for mailers that were critical of Jackson. Red Clay Political is registered to Andrew Blascovich, who once worked for former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, according to The Current.

Target candidates react

Most candidates targeted by Macon-Bibb Forward Together said they were unaware of money spent to help them get elected. 

Miller said in an email that Macon-Bibb Forward Together “did not spend any money in support of my campaign nor did the independent committee coordinate with any candidates” and that is “consistent with established law.”

“By definition (and campaign finance laws) independent committees make expenditures without coordinating with any candidate,” Miller said. 

Flowers submitted an affidavit to the state last May stating he did not intend to raise more than $2,500. Asked about the costly campaign work done on his behalf, Flowers quickly replied, “Didn’t nobody give me no money.”

Bailey said she was unaware of the $11,097 Macon-Bibb Forward Together paid Southern Majority to support her campaign.

“It would have been nice to have had that help,” Bailey said, adding that family members shouldered the bulk of her campaign work and did a “very great job.”

The mayor endorsed Marshall Talley and helped encourage votes for him in a Facebook post, but Talley said he was unaware of the more than $20,000 Macon-Bibb Forward Together spent to advance his campaign. 

“I had no idea,” Talley wrote in an email to The Melody upon learning of the expenses on his behalf. “It’s both eye-opening and, I must admit, a bit frustrating. On one hand, it’s encouraging to know that organizations exist locally with this kind of political monetary infrastructure. It suggests that my message resonated with some folks who have the means to support candidates they believe in. That’s promising for the future of local politics.

“But here’s the thing, I still lost. And now, knowing about this substantial investment, my political frustration is through the roof. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that my message aligned with an organization willing to put their money where their mouth is. But it makes me wonder: what if that $20,000 had been used differently? … I can’t help but think how much more effective that money could have been if it had gone into candidate and campaign training programs. Imagine equipping passionate newcomers like myself with the tools and know-how to run a tight ship from day one. That could be a game changer for local politics.”

Desmond Brown said he was surprised to learn Macon-Bibb Forward Together paid to both support and oppose his campaign against Talley for a seat on the Macon Water Authority Board. 

“Wow,” Brown said. “Oh my God. … I understand not everybody is going to be for you, but I didn’t know.”