[PUBLISH]

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________ No. 22-13396 ____________________

RYAN GRAHAM, as individual, LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF GEORGIA, INC., a Georgia nonprofit corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE OF GEORGIA, GEORGIA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMMISSION, CHAIRMAN OF GEORGIA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMMISSION, USCA11 Case: 22-13396 Document: 47-1 Date Filed: 08/02/2024 Page: 2 of 17

2 Opinion of the Court 22-13396

Defendants-Appellees.

____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:22-cv-03613-MHC ____________________

Before NEWSOM, BRANCH, and LUCK, Circuit Judges. BRANCH, Circuit Judge: This appeal presents a constitutional challenge to one of Georgia’s campaign-finance laws. Section 21-5-34.2 of the Georgia Code allows a “leadership committee” to accept political contributions that exceed the limits usually imposed on candidates. O.C.G.A. § 21-5-34.2. Leadership committees may be formed only by the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the nominee of a political party—but not a political body—for Governor or Lieutenant Governor, though a nominee may only do so in the year in which he is nominated. Under Georgia law, the Democratic and Republican parties are political parties, while the Libertarian Party is a political body. The Libertarian Party of Georgia and its nominee for the office of Lieutenant Governor in the 2022 general election, Ryan Graham, argue that O.C.G.A. § 21-5-34.2 violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth USCA11 Case: 22-13396 Document: 47-1 Date Filed: 08/02/2024 Page: 3 of 17

22-13396 Opinion of the Court 3

Amendment by excluding them from forming a leadership committee and from accepting unlimited contributions like their Republican and Democratic counterparts. The district court denied Graham and the Libertarian Party’s motion for a preliminary injunction because it concluded they lacked standing and didn’t satisfy the prerequisites for the issuance of a preliminary injunction. Graham and the Libertarian Party timely appealed. After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that this case is moot. Accordingly, we vacate the underlying judgment, dismiss the appeal, and remand for the district court to dismiss the case as moot. I. Background Before we lay out the facts of this case, we first explain certain parts of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act (the “Campaign Finance Act”). Under the Campaign Finance Act, campaign contributions for candidates of statewide office1 are limited by the following dollar amounts: $7,600 for primary and general elections, and $4,400 for runoff elections. O.C.G.A §§ 21-5-41(a), (k). 2 In July of 2021, an

1 Georgia law provides for lower limits for offices that are not statewide,