Ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Georgia’s race for governor, Stacey Abrams has a clear lead in the polls. If she wins, she is positioned to potentially become the state’s—and the nation’s—first black female governor. This would be significant anywhere in the country, but is particularly relevant for a state in the American South. Georgia has become increasingly purple, and the election of a single, black, progressive woman to the state’s highest office could represent exciting new opportunities for the state and for Democrats across the country.
In a piece profiling Abrams, Rolling Stone notes that what happens in the primary could have national implications for years to come. And it begins with an understanding that Georgia is changing—both demographically and politically.
Despite its national reputation for being just another race-obsessed Deep South state, Georgia has been trending purple since 2008, with the Democratic upsurge coming from its dramatic non-white population increase. Donald Trump only won Georgia by 5 points in 2016, and now has a dismal 37 percent approval rating there. Georgia will soon join Texas and Florida as white-minority states.
This is what makes Abrams a rising star to watch and someone deserving of Democrats’ full support. Abrams understands that her state is changing and building a coalition of voters that have been traditionally ignored at the polls and in the party. This is coupled with her years-long work with the New Georgia Project, which registered more than 200,000 new voters (predominantly people of color) from 2014 to 2016. There is a chance to usher in a new era of diversity, inclusion, and empowerment for underrepresented groups in Southern politics, and Abrams refuses to let the opportunity go to waste. She also refuses to downplay her intention to get away from some of the conservatism that has been the hallmark of black politics in the South for decades.
Abrams isn't just idly proclaiming herself a "candidate of the future," the way young politicians are contractually compelled to do. She is a living, breathing vision of the South's likely political future, as well as the national Democratic Party's. She makes a clean break, too, from the black middle-class candidates, especially in the South, who practiced a version of "respectability politics" to get ahead. (Picture Condoleeza Rice of Birmingham.)
Far from "knowing her place," as "good" blacks in Georgia were always supposed to do in the eyes of "powerful white men," Abrams is sharp-witted as well as sharp-elbowed, and so unabashed about her vaulting ambition – she intends to be elected president in 2028 – that she considers it one of her greatest virtues and jokes about it easily.
Abrams has been steadily receiving major endorsements from progressive organizations such as EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood, and Our Revolution. Daily Kos endorsed Abrams last fall. She also has the support of heavy hitters in the Democratic Party such as Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Kamala Harris, Gabby Giffords, Sen. Cory Booker, and Jennifer Granholm. On Monday, she secured an endorsement from Hillary Clinton. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Clinton recorded a robo-call that described Abrams, a former state House minority leader, as “the only candidate with bold new plans to ensure that Georgians have access to good jobs, quality public schools, affordable childcare and higher education.”
Rolling Stone writes that Abrams will win the primary but will be unsuccessful in the general in November. Their prediction is that she takes on Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and makes an impressive run, but that the state has not quite progressed enough to elect a progressive, black woman governor. Still, they say, Abrams is ambitious and her historic run is a sign of what the future could look like.
But Abrams is an avatar of the Southern politics to come – and that'll be true no matter what she might accomplish as governor or, years from now, president.
Should she win on Tuesday, and the signs are looking like she will, Abrams will face a tough road to November. And while it’s tempting to look at the history of Georgia and see an Abrams victory as an impossibility, no one should count her out. Black women are responsible for political miracles all the time—and have proven this repeatedly in recent races across the country. Only 30 percent of eligible black residents are registered to vote in Georgia. A key strategy of Abrams’ campaign is to get more of those residents registered and to the polls. From the Jon Ossoff race, we also know that there is excitement for Democratic candidates, a desire for progress, and the possibility of seriously loosening the Republican hold on the state. Abrams has already run a phenomenal campaign in a tough Democratic race. And after the 2016 presidential election, we should know by now to never say never. Stacey Abrams has a real chance to change Georgia—and America’s—politics for decades to come. Let’s support her in winning the primary so she can concentrate on taking on the Republicans in November.
Please donate $3 today to help elect Stacey Abrams as Georgia’s first black woman governor and turn the state blue!