Democrat Stacey Abrams is telling Georgia voters that “I did the work and now I want the job,” arguing that the last four years since she narrowly lost the 2018 governor’s race to Brian Kemp have left her better prepared to govern as she runs again in 2022.
Abrams launched a statewide tour on Monday with stops in Cuthbert, Warner Robins and Atlanta, unveiling a new stump speech after qualifying last week left her unopposed in the May 24 Democratic primary. Abrams’ focus was clearly on Republican Brian Kemp, who edged her in 2018. Kemp faces a serious primary challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, leaving it uncertain who will be the GOP nominee on Nov. 8.
“Four years ago when I applied for this job as governor, I had my application declined,” Abrams told a crowd of about 200 near downtown Atlanta. “It’s OK. I’ve had four years to work on things. I’ve had four years to live up to what I told folks I would do when I was running for office.”
Abrams pointed to her work not only in establishing Fair Fight, her voting rights group, but also to the group’s purchase and forgiveness of medical debt and work to overcome hesitancy against the COVID-19 vaccine.
The 48-year-old Abrams was a state lawmaker with little profile outside Georgia when she began her 2018 race for governor, looking to become the state’s first Black and first female governor. Four years later, she is entering the contest as a national political titan widely credited for helping swing Georgia to the Democratic column in the presidential election for the first time since 1992 and for shifting control of the Senate to Democrats after two runoff victories.
