Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams announced another bid for the office on Wednesday.
“I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power,” Abrams wrote in a Twitter post alongside a campaign video.
I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power. #gapol
Be a founding donor to my campaign:https://t.co/gk2lmBINfW pic.twitter.com/z14wUlo8ls
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) December 1, 2021
Abrams was defeated by current governor Brian Kemp in the 2022 elections by a margin of just 1.4 percentage points, the closest gubernatorial election in Georgia since 1966. However, Abrams has never officially conceded defeat, and claimed that Kemp’s victory was due to voter suppression.
“I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified as the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial election,” Abrams said in a speech on November 16, 2018. “But to watch an elected official…baldly pin his hopes for election on the suppression of the people’s democratic right to vote—has been truly appalling. So, to be clear, this is not a speech of concession.”
Kemp announced his decision to run for reelection in May of this year.
“Our state’s in a really good place, and it’s going to get better. And I want to keep driving that ship,” Kemp told Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta at the time.
Kemp was Georgia’s secretary of state, the top election official in the state, before running for governor. Among other allegations, Democrats charged that the removal of over 1.4 million voters from Georgia’s voter registry during Kemp’s tenure constituted voter “suppression,” although the removals were conducted in accordance with existing state laws.