Two video recordings posted publicly show Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, the Democratic nominee for state Senate District 7, soliciting campaign contributions and pledges in what appear to be campaign calls held while the General Assembly was in session—conduct prohibited by state law. The State Ethics Commission has an open investigation into a complaint over her fundraising as she campaigns for the seat in the November 3 election.
Romman is a sitting member of the Georgia House representing District 97. She previously served as the communications director for the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
CAIR National was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation trial and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, which federal prosecutors said oversaw Hamas fundraising in the United States. In December 2023, the White House disavowed CAIR over its executive director’s remark that he “was happy to see” Palestinians break out of Gaza on October 7, which a Biden spokesman called “shocking, antisemitic”; CAIR said the comment was taken out of context.
In an October 14 email, the commission confirmed that the complaint filed by Keath Blatt, which is “active and under investigation,” was received on August 28 and opened on September 1.
The complainant alleges that “prior to the legislative session ending, during a virtual meeting, Respondent solicited campaign contributions, solicited attendees ‘to write checks dated for after April 3rd to Ruwa for State Senate.’”
Indeed, in a recording of a virtual campaign meeting that reportedly took place on March 26, Romman instructed attendees to postdate checks for after the end of the legislative session. The ethics complaint omits that, in that meeting, Romman also asked her supporters to make pledges: “There is a pledge form on our website in the meantime where if you want the ActBlue link, you can fill out a pledge, and then we can collect those after session, when session is over, inshallah.”
An archived copy of her campaign website’s landing page from February 27, during the legislative session, shows that the page greeted visitors with “Pledge today!” and suggested dollar amounts before they continued to the site.
No member of the General Assembly or that member’s campaign committee or public officer elected state wide or campaign committee of such public officer shall seek or accept a contribution or a pledge of a contribution to the member, the member’s campaign committee, or public officer elected state wide, or campaign committee of such public officer during a legislative session.
Georgia Code § 21-5-35 prohibits a member of the General Assembly or that member’s campaign committee from seeking or accepting either pledges or contributions during a legislative session.
The 2026 session convened on January 12 and adjourned on April 3 at approximately 1 a.m.
The complaint alleges that the postdating instruction was an attempt to work around the ban: “By advising donors to post-date checks, Respondent attempted to evade the prohibition by giving the appearance that contributions were solicited after the legislative session.”
Romman did not respond to requests for comment. Blatt declined to comment.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reported on March 30 that “Astrid Ross said in a complaint filed Friday [March 27] with the State Ethics Commission that Romman urged attendees of a virtual meeting on March 26 to ‘write checks dated for after April 3 to Ruwa for state Senate.’” Ross was an early rival in the race.
However, Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) was able to obtain only a copy of Blatt’s complaint from the State Ethics Commission, which, after running two searches, stated that it was “unable to confirm any other complaint has been filed against Romman or any associated committee.” Because Blatt’s complaint is still open, the commission clarified, no further details are available to the public.
Neither the AJC’s account nor Blatt’s complaint refers to a second recording. A confidential source told FWI that “a local Democratic party person” posted that second video on YouTube. The video shows Romman in a Zoom meeting, which apparently took place during the legislative session, saying, “In terms of fundraising, we’re going back to the whole like collecting pledges thing. People can also write checks, but dated for April 3rd.”
FWI’s source, a local concerned citizen, expressed frustration with the situation in Georgia surrounding Romman’s campaign and the state’s responsiveness: “I cannot fully trust any public officials.”
The commission has not ruled on the complaint and has made no finding of a violation.
