Having helped remove Trump, Stacey Abrams’s next battle is to win office

Atlanta, Georgia: She was the hero of the 2020 US election, whose effort to mobilise black voters in Georgia helped secure Joe Biden’s presidency and seismically shifted the political landscape in America’s deep south.

Two years later, voting rights champion Stacey Abrams is now trying to unseat Republican Governor Brian Kemp for the state’s top job, with both candidates facing off on the debate stage on Monday night (US time) in one of the most scrutinised contests of the US midterm elections.

Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams speaks during the Atlanta Press Club debate.Credit:AP

With three weeks until the November 8 poll, much of the focus has been on the critical races for the Senate and the House of Representatives, which will determine who controls Congress for the next two years.

Among them is the Senate race for Georgia, where Donald Trump’s chosen candidate Herschel Walker – a former football star who has campaigned in support of a national ban on abortion – has come under fire over claims he quietly paid an ex-girlfriend to terminate a pregnancy in 2009.

But it’s also worth noting that there are 36 state Governor races to be decided too, which will give the winner immense power over a swathe of important state-based issues: from abortion access following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V Wade, to gun carrying rights or the way race or diversity can be taught in schools.

Few of these 36 races are as heated as the rematch between Abrams (who was one of several women Biden considered to be his running mate in 2020 before he picked Kamala Harris), and Kemp (who was one of the few Republican Governors who withstood Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the election results).

Hours after early voting began in Georgia on Tuesday, both candidates faced off in a debate for the first time since 2018 when Abrams narrowly lost by about 54,000 votes out of nearly 4 million cast – blaming Kemp for voter suppression tactics and initially refusing to concede defeat.

Asked by the Atlanta Press Club panel tonight if she would accept the outcome this year – or if she stood by earlier claims that the 2018 election was “rigged” – Abrams made no apologies for calling out her opponent for introducing laws that she claimed had made it harder for people to vote, particularly those from historically disenfranchised black and brown communities.

“Just today, a homeless woman was denied the right to vote… because she did not receive a provisional ballot,” she said. “I will always acknowledge the outcome of elections, but I will never deny access to vote because that is the right of every American.”

Republican Governor Brian Kemp looks on during the Atlanta Press Club debate. Credit:AP

But while voter disenfranchisement remains an issue at this year’s midterms, the economy is the foremost concern – not just in Georgia, but right across the country.

Indeed, with inflation soaring, a New York Times/Siena College poll has found that the share of likely voters who said economic concerns were the most important issue the nation faced had jumped since July, from 36 per cent to 44 per cent from — far higher than any other issue.

And in a troubling sign for Democrats three weeks out from election day, voters most concerned with the economy favoured Republicans, by more than a two-to-one margin.

To that end, it’s not surprising that Abrams and Kemp focused tonight’s debate heavily on “kitchen table” issues such as the economy, crime, and education.

Kemp spruiked his controversial decision to lift pandemic restrictions against the advice of public health officials, arguing that it strengthened Georgia’s economy while other states dwindled.

He also vowed to stop children from being “indoctrinated in the classroom” – a reference to critical race theory, which seeks to study how race and racism have impacted social structures in America.

And he talked up his push to “go after street gangs”, prompting a heated retort from Abrams about the need for gun reform in the wake of mass shootings.

“Street gangs are one part of the problem but we have a Governor who’s weakened gun laws across the state and flooded our streets with guns by letting dangerous people get access to those weapons,” she said.

“The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp.”

Maybe so, but with polls suggesting Abrams is trailing her Republican opponent – in some cases by at least 10 points – another four years may be on the horizon.

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