Stacey Abrams isn’t out of governor’s race, but Dems aren’t waiting
When the 2022 elections in Georgia were approaching, Democratic candidates jumped into the top-tier contests for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and all of the other statewide races, except the race for governor. That’s because no Democrats dared go up against the powerhouse they knew would soon run herself — Stacey Abrams.
Fast forward four years and Abrams is still leaving open the possibility that she could run for Georgia governor for a third time in next year. Asked this week whether she’s definitively in or out of the race, a spokesman said Abrams “remains deeply committed to working with Democrats to fight back against the dangerous policies pushed by the Trump administration and Republicans at every level of government, and especially in Georgia — because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t.”
For those following along at home, that’s a nonanswer.
But unlike 2018 and 2022, Abrams’ fellow Democrats are not waiting around. At least half a dozen are already in the crowded field for governor. Their campaigns occupy every lane of the ideological spectrum, from liberal state House Rep. Ruwa Romman to Republican-turned-centrist Democrat Geoff Duncan. The field checks every box. Veteran Democratic leader Michael Thurmond brings an long record of service, while former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is already connecting with Black women, the party’s all-important voting bloc.
Whether Abrams could — or should — run again is the subject of intense speculation among Georgia Democratic operatives right now, including several who would rather see her stay on the sidelines and give their own bosses a chance to take their shot at the state’s top spot.
But local party leaders like Melissa Clink in Forsyth County say they’re not seeing the same speculation about Abrams at the grassroots level. “There’s not a buzz about her running or not running, really,” Clink said.
Not only are some of the people who endorsed Abrams in her first two races already endorsing other candidates, some of the people who endorsed her are running themselves.
Melita Easters, the founding chair and executive director of Georgia WIN List, which endorsed Abrams in her previous races, said Abrams “absolutely” still has a following among Democrats in the state.
“She knows how to hold a crowd in the palm of her hand,” Easters said. “And this country needs as many strong spokespeople as possible if we are to protect and save democracy.”
But as much as she respects Abrams, Easters is not convinced another Abrams run would be any more successful than the last two times.
“It would depend on who else is in the race,” she said, but on also on what kind of a candidate Abrams would be the third time around.
“The Stacy who campaigned for governor in 2018 had a very different persona than the one who campaigned in 2022,” Easters said. “She has always said she’s an introvert. I think in 2018, she was still embracing the newness of learning about the state and meeting people all over the state. And by 2022, the introvert won out.”
One key difference between Abrams now and Abrams in the past is that the two Democratic turnout machines that she built ahead of her campaigns in 2018 and 2022 are all but defunct.
The New Georgia Project, which Abrams launched in 2013, announced last week it would close its doors, and Abrams’ Fair Fight is a shadow of its former self after struggling to pay its bills.
Even without her turnout machines, Abrams she remains influential in Georgia politics, but as more of a progressive icon than a candidate.
Her appearance at the Decatur Book Fair this month drew a sold-out crowd at the fair’s largest venue. And when she spoke at the Atlanta “No Kings” rally last week about “10 steps to autocracy,” the crowd of 10,000-plus cheered along with her in a chant of “No kings!”
Rohit Malhotra, the progressive Democrat running for Atlanta City Council president, posted a photo of himself with Abrams at the rally to social media and wrote he would never have had “the courage, audacity, or even the open door to run for City Council President in Atlanta” if it wasn’t for Abrams’ example.
“I have no idea what her plans are or what she’s thinking,” Malhotra said. “But I think her presence in Georgia politics, and her influence in Georgia politics is undeniable.”
While there are no signs that Abrams has been putting together a campaign apparatus in Georgia for a future run, she has continued to focus on her creative projects. Earlier this year she began a successful podcast called “Assembly Required,” along with a Substack to go along with it called Assembly Notes. She also published the latest installment in her Avery Keene mystery series, “Coded Justice,” and launched a new “10 Steps Campaign” to highlight what she calls America’s march to autocracy under President Donald Trump.
For the moment, that seems to be the only campaign Abrams is launching.
About the Author
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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