Stacey Abrams beamed Saturday from the front steps of her Kirkwood campaign headquarters as a fired-up crowd of roughly 100 supporters chanted her last name.
The former Georgia House minority leader and Democratic gubernatorial candidate sent off campaign volunteers for an afternoon of door-knocking and phone-banking in style, donning a sleek coral dress and flanked by longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and leaders of a half-dozen liberal organizations such as EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Her pitch was polished yet passionate. She told the stories of Georgians she met during her time on the campaign trail and how they illustrated the need for a governor who wants to enact gun control, expand Medicaid and foster economic mobility for low- and middle-income people.
“We’re going to build a thriving and diverse economy for all 159 counties because I’m not running to be the governor of Atlanta, I’m running to be the governor of Georgia,” she said, prompting cheers from the crowd.
Abrams and Stacey Evans, her opponent in the May 22 Democratic primary, spent the weekend making final get-out-the-vote pushes. Their talking points covered familiar ground, but their distinct styles and divergent campaign strategies were on prominent display as they sought to drive turnout and win over undecided voters.
A few miles west on I-20, Evans was on the stump in a decidedly more low-key affair. In khakis and sneakers, the ex- state legislator toured a Westview restaurant with former mayoral candidate Vincent Fort, shaking hands and telling her life story to a crowd of roughly two dozen people.
Evans centered her speech on the core tenet of her campaign, restoring funding to the HOPE scholarship, which she said enabled her to become the first member of her family to attend college.
“That same hope and opportunity that was there for me is not there for kids today,” she said.
Evans criticized Abrams for focusing her campaign almost exclusively on turning out low-propensity Democratic voters. Dismissing independent voters and suburban Republican women is wrong, she said.
“She would like to huddle in the corner with folks that already identify as Democrats,” Evans said of Abrams. “The math alone in that strategy doesn’t add up. And it’s also not healthy for democracy that anyone running to be governor of the entire state of Georgia would not be willing to talk to the entire state of Georgia.”
Earlier that afternoon, Abrams told reporters her approach is working.
“We are seeing turnout across the state, we’re seeing incredible excitement and I feel momentum,” she said. “I think that we’re on a path to victory but we’re going to keep running as though we’re behind because that’s what you do until the results come in.”
Abrams has held a double-digit lead in most polls, but a large chunk of likely voters remains undecided. One recent survey indicated that roughly one-third of Democratic primary voters had yet to pick a candidate.
Early-voting numbers this year were down from the 2016 primary election, when turnout was aided by the presidential race. And candidates from both parties have battled apathy for months.
Both Democrats have particularly focused on winning over black voters, the backbone of Georgia's Democratic party.
Jason Hudgins, president of the Westview Community Organization that invited Evans to speak, indicated many voters in his part of Southwest Atlanta have not paid close attention to the race, particularly after last year’s bruising mayoral contest.
“I wouldn’t say there’s apathy, but I think that people are tired,” he said. “There is a feeling in a lot of our communities that our government does not listen to us … and there is a group of people that has just checked out because their feeling is it doesn’t matter what you say, people are not listening.”
Many of Abrams’ campaign volunteers who attended Saturday’s get-out-the-vote rally said they also had to spend time educating voters about the race. But several also said they were getting positive feedback about their candidate of choice.
“The majority of the people that I have talked to, they are very in tune to (Abrams),” said Sonja Brantley, a retired educator from DeKalb County. “They want a change. They want somebody who’s going to support the common person.”
For his part, Fort said he’s noticed “people are starting to pay attention” and recognize Evans.
“We’ve been at barbershops and beauty shops in the South side of the metro area today and she was received very, very well,” he said. “I’m very happy with how she’s being received.”
