Stacey Abrams’ Chances Of Becoming Georgia Governor Are ‘Good’ Says Political Scientist

One of the most influential politicians in the country has announced her decision to run for governor of Georgia in 2022. Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost race to Governor Brian Kemp in 2018, but rose to national prominence as a voting rights advocate, is keeping her sights on the gubernatorial prize which will likely lead to a rematch between the two.

“America’s democracy received an energy shot that hasn’t been present in sometime,” said Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project. “Stacey Abrams’ announcement that she is running for governor in the state of Georgia isn’t just local news for the folk of that state, it’s news that has national implications that are all for the better of our fragile democracy.”

Abrams, a former Georgia legislator and attorney, made a national name for herself during the 2020 campaign as she organized voter registration drives in Georgia, resulting in the surprising election of two Democrats to represent the state in the U.S. Senate and adding Georgia to Biden’s ledger for his presidential run.

Dr. Ray Winbush, Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University, said Abrams went to work after the 2018 race.

He added, “She excited and ignited voters. She’s basically turned Georgia purple – if not blue.”

Winbush described Abrams as a “brilliant tactician” whose changes of winning in 2022 are “good.”

Republican attacks

After her announcement, Governor Kemp released a statement accusing Abrams of a “never-ending campaign for power” that has hurt the state, pitching the 2022 election as a “battle for the soul of our state.”

Georgia is one of many states that passed voter suppression laws legislation viewed by critics as a blatant effort by Republicans to limit minority participation at the ballot box and dismantle the work of Abrams and other voter rights activists. President Trump has even invoked Abrams name at his rallies to taunt Kemp who refused to misrepresent Georgia’s vote in the presidential election. Trump badgered Georgia election officials to claim the state voted for him in the 2020 election.

“Stacey’s action was the greatest wall against Republicans’ attempt to trash the experiment called America’s democracy,” declared Robinson.

With a nation bitterly divided, Abrams has experienced some of hostility directed at other moderates and progressives. Winbush recalled the violence during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and said, “This is more dangerous now than then … it’s a wild time in America.”

Kemp is hoping to deploy his Republican base, using the tired-and-true conservative tactics of division. As scientists investigate the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, and continue to battle the Delta variant, Kemp alleges “Georgia would have shut down, and students would have been barred from their classrooms and woke politics would be the law of the land and the lesson plan in our schools” had Abrams been governor. His website calls for donors to “unite” to defeat Abrams.

If Abrams wins the 2022 election, she will become the first Black female governor in the United States.

Image Credits: Commonwealth Club.