Abrams, House minority leader, makes select list of U.S. legislators

Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, made Governing magazine's list of 12 state legislators across the nation to watch in 2012.

Abrams  is the first woman to lead either party in Georgia's Legislature. She is an attorney and sharp debater. Despite being a Democrat, she was credited by observersfor winning concessions last year from Republican Gov. Nathan Deal on rewriting the HOPE scholarship program.

“Stacey Abrams is definitely an up-and-comer,” Kerwin Swint, a Kennesaw State University political scientist, told Governing. “She is what the Democratic Party in the state needed, a fresh face with talent and drive for the long haul.”