Stacey Abrams Announces Second Bid For Georgia Governor Against Brian Kemp

Democratic political activist and former Georgia State Sen. Stacey Abrams announced on Wednesday that she is running for governor in 2022, setting up a rematch with the incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, to whom she narrowly lost the controversial 2018 gubernatorial contest.

Abrams, a voting rights champion and former minority leader in the Georgia State Senate whose 55,000-vote (1.4%) defeat to Kemp was believed by many to be the result of voter suppression and foul play related to Kemp’s role as secretary of state at the time, which enabled him to oversee his own election, has positioned herself as a formidable force inside the Democratic Party. She was even on President Joe Biden‘s list of possible running mates in the 2020 election.

If Abrams wins, she would be the first black woman governor in the history of the United States and would undoubtedly be thrust into the top-tier of potential future presidential candidates.

“I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by ZIP code, background or access to power,” Abrams tweeted along with a two-and-a-half-minute-long video.

“Regardless of the pandemic or the storms, the obstacles in our way or the forces determined to divide us, my job has been to just put my head down and keep working toward one Georgia,” she said. “Because in the end, we are one Georgia.”

Kemp, meanwhile, issued a statement dismissing Abrams’s candidacy as nothing more than a stunt from a zealous political wannabe.

“Stacey’s never-ending campaign for power has already hurt Georgia businesses and cost our state millions – all in service to her ultimate ambition of becoming President of the United States,” the governor said.

A lawsuit filed against state officials in 2018 by Fair Fight, Abrams’s voting rights organization, is scheduled for trial in February 2022.