Kemp team declares victory in Ga. race
Gubernatorial campaign could see runoff, lawsuit
ATLANTA — Republican Brian Kemp’s campaign declared victory Wednesday in the Georgia governor’s race, though Democrat Stacey Abrams insists enough ballots remain to leave open the possibility of a runoff.
The Associated Press has not called the contest.
Ryan Mahoney, a top Kemp campaign adviser, told reporters in a conference call that Kemp is certain of victory and preparing to take office in January.
Another campaign official, Austin Chambers, added: “The message here is pretty simple: This election is over, and the results are clear.”
Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, was not on the call.
Abrams’ campaign spent the day pushing for the continued counting of absentee, mail-in and provisional ballots and renewing its concerns that Kemp remains the chief elections officer supervising his own election.
With reported votes exceeding
3.9 million — almost 95 percent of Georgia’s 2016 presidential turnout — Kemp has just more than 50 percent.
“We are leaving all of our options on the table,” including litigation, Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-wargo said. Groh-wargo estimated Wednesday that about 15,000 votes separate Kemp from a runoff. She says at least that many outstanding absentee and mail-in ballots remained to be counted.
Kemp’s spokeswoman in the secretary of state’s office, Candice Broce, said that by Wednesday afternoon the number of uncounted absentee and mail-in ballots was less than 2,000 — with her boss still above the 50 percent threshold. Broce said about 22,000 provisional ballots have yet to be processed, according to a canvass of county officials across the state.
Mahoney asserted that those numbers make it impossible for Abrams to pick up enough votes to deny Kemp an outright victory.
Kemp’s office has not released a county-by-county breakdown of provisional ballots, but Abrams’ campaign said they believe they are concentrated in metro Atlanta counties where Abrams won a large share of the vote.
If a runoff is necessary, the second round would take place Dec. 4.
Kemp told supporters early Wednesday that “there are votes left to count, but we have a very strong lead. … The math is on our side to win this election.”