On the Kemp Chase With Stacey Abrams

One of the country’s most notable Democratic political figures tries to gain ground on Georgia’s incumbent governor.

By
98

Eatonton, Georgia, doesn’t see too many politicians coming through. So when Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams stops in the town of 6,000 an hour east of Atlanta Wednesday evening, a good-sized and cheerful crowd turns out despite the lingering heat, lounging in lawn chairs and cooling themselves with “I’m a Fan of Stacey Abrams” fans provided by the campaign.

“We are 62 days away from glory—62 days away from changing the future of this state,” Abrams tells the people assembled at the city center stage. “We got the money already. We’ve got the people. We’ve got the power, but we need the leadership. We don’t have to raise taxes. We just have to raise our expectations.”

Abrams has been changing the future of Georgia for a while already. In fact, though she’s never held statewide or national office, there’s little doubt that the former minority leader of the Georgia House has been one of the most pivotal American politicians of the last few years. Her voter-registration efforts are widely credited as the driving force behind the Peach State’s recent red-to-purple turn—a phenomenon that set the stage for Georgia Democrats to score two huge runoff-election Senate upsets against GOP incumbents in 2021. Those seats handed Chuck Schumer control of the Senate and crushed Republicans’ best hope to stymie President Joe Biden’s agenda in Congress.

But while she’s improved the fortunes of Democrats all around her, there’s been an “always the bridesmaid” feel to Abrams’ personal political career, which has recently been marked mostly by disappointments: edged out by Republican Brian Kemp in the 2018 governor’s race, shortlisted as a possible running mate but ultimately passed over by Biden in 2020. And today, despite rising Democratic hopes for the midterms around the country—and despite the odds looking good that one of those new Georgia senators, Raphael Warnock, may stave off Republican challenger Herschel Walker—Abrams has stayed flat in the polls, facing the same rough five-point deficit she’s seen against Kemp since January.

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
98
By
Comments (98)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    BrettH

    Enjoyed the read, thanks Andrew. I’m so glad I won’t be subjected to the endless political attack adds in GA for the next few months.

    Collapse
  2. Dystopian Housewife

    Her issue is that Kemp is generally popular, many swing voters view him favorably for how he dealt with Trump, and there has been a view that Abrams is more invested in her national profile than in bread and butter GA politics. At least, that’s my diagnosis as a swing voter from a family of swing voters. I voted for her before, but will vote for Kemp this time.

    Collapse
    1. Dystopian Housewife

      To add more color: others in my family are voting for her again or haven’t decided. Those voting for her are primarily motivated by concern over abortion access. All of us will vote for Warnock.

      Collapse
  3. R. James

    Did you ask her if she still thinks that she is the Governor of Georgia?

    Collapse
  4. Mathew A

    "She remains a polarizing figure in Georgia, having long denied the legitimacy of Kemp’s 2018 election"

    This. Every Democrat crying about Trump that turns around and votes for Abrams is being a hypocrite. She's the exact same. Baseless lies about elections. Refusal to concede.

    Trump needs to go and so does Abrams and anyone else that tells unfounded election lies.

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Janet W

    Didn’t y’all hear? Abrams is the legitimate governor of Georgia. As a Georgian, I’m still waiting for her concession speech from 2018. Ironic that Trump is operating from the same playbook. Kemp isn’t perfect, but at least he’s got character, class and integrity. It must be that University of Georgia education!

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Rjosephpaquette

    What would the funding race in GA look like if you exclude out of state money? Cash from NY and CA doesn’t vote.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      Geography is almost completely meaningless in Federal elections these days and is fast becoming less relevant in State-level elections since Trump has introduced the threat of state offices effecting federal elections.

      CA, NY, TX, FL etc. have more people with more money than the other states, so it makes sense, therefore, that money would come from those places, statistically-speaking.

      A broader question might be, "what would elections look like if they had less money in them?". The answer to that, I do not know. I for one am not particularly bothered by "big money in politics" because I can't draw a straight line from this "big money" and our real political problems in the USA. "Big money" is present on both sides these days...

      Collapse
  7. liz perez

    Perhaps I'm trite and superficial, but I stopped thinking of Stacey Abrams as a political real-deal heavyweight when she chose to spend her time writing soft-core porn instead of doing something more substantive during the last few years, as she waited for political reemergence.

    Folks in that position, if they're serious:
    1) Do something at the Harvard Kenney School -- either as a visiting prof or as a student.
    2) Write a book of a serious nature -- either reflecting on their path or outlining future goals.
    3) Set up a meaningful non-profit, serving some segment of our society.
    4) Debate substantive policy as a talking head.

    I haven't seen her do any of these things, so I haven't sent her any money -- something I did do the last time. I have written her off as a lightweight.

    Collapse
    1. Dystopian Housewife

      I am not a supporter of hers but... gently, if you think that’s how she’s been spending her time you haven’t been paying attention. She was an omnipresent figure in the run up to the 2020 election for her voter turnout efforts - she was even discussed as a VP pick. Since then, she’s been running for Governor. Her romance writing career has been on the back burner for years.

      Collapse
      1. liz perez

        You are correct. I do not follow her regularly at all. I am not a political junkie. I know she got out the vote and was discussed for VP, but so have many unqualified/unpopular others.
        Have now googled, and her novels were written a while ago, but she keeps re-issuing them (!). This is not savvy behavior in a politician, much less a female one (not even good for a man —imagine a male politician writing soft porn romances and then running for office..he’d go down in flames, so she can’t blame “misogyny). For national prominence and heft, she really needed to be more cautious and disciplined about her image and what she puts out, since there are many like myself who are amateurs and just get a “gloss” of the person in a superficial manner. Such is the downside of universal suffrage — you get a lot of idiots with only superficial knowledge voting and opining.

        Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      BrandonAlleman

      Abrams started a nonprofit Fair Fight Action after the 2018 loss which has contributed to higher voter participation in GA.

      Collapse
      1. liz perez

        Then I am obviously wrong. Thanks. So then perhaps she has a messaging problem. The image is not quite serious, which of course is more of an issue for women.

        Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Pat Riot

    "having long denied the legitimacy of Kemp’s 2018 election"

    This is a lie. And intentional lie, and the author knows it.

    The irony here is that Stacy Abrams is the Republican's #1 source of whatabouting Trump's election denials away, and yet this entire article shows a politician doing the *opposite* of what the typical democracy-attacking Republican does on a daily basis: she's pounding the pavement for votes with boundless energy and political skill, trying to appeal to as many voters as possible, reaching across ideological divides, and trying *convince* voters to vote for her.

    And when it comes to Georgia's voter suppression laws that partially lead to her loss last time, Stacy Abrams did what every American should hope a politician would do in such a situation: she worked *within* the system to get those laws changed by convincing lawmakers to vote for these changes--and then Georgia flipped blue in 2020.

    You may not agree with *what* Stacy Abrams politics are, but the *way* she does politics is a model for all politician nationwide.

    And thus it's somehow fitting that her *method* is the Republican's #1 target for smearing...

    Collapse
    1. Ron Croxton

      That's a lie? How many quotes in which she questions the legitimacy would you like? I found four in under 2 minutes of Googling.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Pat Riot

        She never questioned the legitimacy of the election system in Georgia. The said that voter suppression laws made the election unfair to her, which they did. She then worked *within the system* to change those laws and flipped the state blue.

        And she conceded the election two days after the voting, which Mr. Egger does does mention, naturally.

        This is desperate, desperate whatabouting by Republicans here so they can defend Trump's election lies.

        Collapse
  9. Joe

    Stacey Abrams still hasn't conceded the 2018 race. One of the reasons why Democrats are failing to defeat Donald Trump with the type of margins Republicans enjoyed from 1972-88 is because they embrace election deniers like Abrams.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      That is false. She conceded a few days after the election.

      Collapse
      1. Ron Croxton

        https://news.yahoo.com/stacey-abrams-defends-refusal-concede-165932285.html

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          Pat Riot

          “But I never denied the legal sufficiency of that election, and that’s the difference between me and Trump. He refuses to acknowledge the legal sufficiency or threatens not to, but my point is that the laws are wrong. We have to fix those laws because as long as we have eligible American citizens who cannot cast a ballot, then the game is rigged.”

          Yep, she's just like Donald Trump. You wish.

          Collapse
          1. Ron Croxton

            I never said she was just like Trump. Straw man that though if you wish, but she did not concede as you claimed.

            Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    George.Skinner

    Stacey Abrams is an example of how blue state Democrats love a champion they think could turn a red state purple. They’ll lavish that candidate with praise and funding, and then despair when they lose. The problem is that blue state Democrats love candidates who act like a blue state Democrat, not the type of centrist purple candidate who can actually tip a state from red. The preconditions are there in places like Georgia and Texas - urban populations are growing, and they tend to be more moderate than the rural areas that historically dominated elections. It’s just that moderate is a relative term, as illustrated by Joe Manchin in West Virginia. Blue state Democrats need to stop projecting their obsessions on other states and instead focus on addressing local opinion if they want candidates who can actually win by expanding their base.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Bayesian

      I tend to agree, although it should also be noted that Abrams came pretty close in 2018 (compare e.g. Amy McGrath). OTOH Warnock suggests that a base mobilization strategy can work in an inelastic purple state like GA - it would be a fairly poor idea in an elastic purple state like NH or ME.

      Collapse
Load More