Stacey Abrams has officially thrown her name in the race for Georgia governor.
The famous voting rights activist and Georgia Democrat ran against current incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp in 2018, ending in one of the most narrowly won governor’s races in a tense year. The race was dominated by allegations of aggressive voter suppression in order to secure the Republican victory.
Before 2018, Georgia was seen as a Republican stronghold. But Abrams’ close victory proved this was not the case. Since the race, Abrams has been organizing heavily, convincing the Democrat Party and Joe Biden to invest heavily in the state in the 2020 presidential election.
Georgia was called for Biden, making it the first time the state has voted for a Democrat since 1992. The state in two special elections also voted in Democratic Senators.
The upcoming 2022 race will put to test whether these were one-time victories for the Democrat Party, showing mostly a rejection of Trump, or whether there is a larger shift overall in the state away from the Republican Party as a whole.
Following the election loss in 2018, Abrams founded Fair Fight, an organization dedicated to fighting voter suppression and registering people to vote. It led to a record-high turnout for the 2020 election, as well as the following Senate runoff election.
Abrams is the Democrat frontrunner for the governor’s race, meaning it will likely be Abrams v. Kemp again.
It may not be easier for Kemp this time around. Trump supporters hold a grudge against Kemp for not caving to support Trump’s wild, baseless argument that the election was stolen from him through election fraud in certain states, including in Georgia.
Three recounts were conducted for Georgia, determining the same result over and over again: Biden won the state. Trump was unwilling to accept this and wanted Kemp to help overturn the result.
However, Kemp still pushed through new restrictions in voting laws following Trump’s loss in the state. The new law gives Republican-controlled legislature more control over election officials, and voting rights activists nationwide fear these laws will undo Abrams’ years of hard work to fight voter suppression.
Abrams has been busy since the 2018 election, founding Fair Fight, writing two books, conducting a nationwide speaking tour, and being named as one of Time magazine’s list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People.
Be the first to comment