The election results in Georgia are not final, but for the first time in nearly 30 years, a Democratic nominee for president edged ahead in the vote count as former Vice President Joe Biden moved past President Donald Trump in the state early Friday morning.
Two Republican senators in the state have been forced into a runoff and suburban seats on county commissions, school boards and the general assembly are leaning toward the Democrats for the first time in a generation.
Republicans control all statewide offices and the lions’ share of county posts. But if there is a single person who deserves the credit for Georgia’s potential move to blue, at least at the top of the ticket in 2020, fellow Democrats believe it is Stacey Abrams.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Abrams as the key to Democrats' strength.
One of Georgia’s two Senate Democratic nominees, Jon Ossoff, wrote simply:
As social media lauded the work Abrams has done, she shared the credit with others, especially the late Rep. John Lewis, whose home county in the 5th congressional district put Biden ahead in the tally early Friday.
Valerie Jarrett, the former adviser to President Barack Obama responded, “You forgot one.”
One Twitter suggested that Abrams and Mike Render, the rapper known as Killer Mike, should get more than a thank you:
Abrams is the former House minority leader and 2018 nominee for governor.
More importantly, Abrams used her years in elected office to create a vast infrastructure to find, register, and turn out Democratic voters in the state, especially those in minority communities who had long been overlooked by Democratic party leaders.
First through the New Georgia Project and later through Fair Fight and Fair Fight Action, Abrams elevated voter turnout, and more specifically voter suppression, as a top priority for Democratic leaders and activists across the country.
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.
