Georgia Democrat one of party’s rising stars
Her goal? Be 1st black female governor
Stacey Abrams, the top Democrat in Georgia’s General Assembly, is among her party’s rising stars vying for a U.S. governor’s mansion next year — as she tests whether progressives can help rebuild the national party by taking control of statehouses.
Abrams, a 43-year-old former romance novelist, is also aiming to make history when she announces her candidacy in southwest Georgia on Saturday. She would be the nation’s first African-American female governor and Georgia’s first black executive. Nationwide, there are six female governors; two of them are Democrats.
That Abrams could stand a chance in a formerly solid red state is among the signs of a shifting political landscape after the 2016 election.
In an important flex of support, Emily’s List, a major force in grooming pro-choice women political candidates, is offering its endorsement out of the gate. “Stacey has proven herself to be an absolute tour-de-force in a state that has never before elected a woman or person of color as governor,” Emily’s List president Stephanie Schriock said in a statement to USA TODAY.
“The state is in fact changing,” said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst at the non-partisan Cook Political Report. “There are other states I might write off. I’m not writing this one off ” to Republicans.
Abrams is becoming a leading party voice in the Sunbelt and an example of how progressives can make gains in Republican-dom- inated states — by turning out low-propensity voters. In Georgia, she’s credited with helping to flip six Republican assembly seats by reaching out to and registering more minorities. That’s different from the Democratic Party formula for winning in swing states for the past 30 years, dating to Bill Clinton’s “New Democrat” approach of moving to the center to attract moderates.
“I intend to scale our model,” Abrams said in an interview with USA TODAY ahead of her announcement. “You can be talking about white voters who are working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, rural black voters who have faced voter suppression for decades, Latino voters in suburban communities,” said Abrams, who was given a speaking slot at the party’s nominating convention in Philadelphia.
The seat is now held by Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican who is term limited. At least three Republicans and Democratic state Rep. Stacey Evans have also announced gubernatorial bids.
While Democrats are playing defense in the U.S. Senate races, with far more of their seats up for reelection in 2018, the governor’s map is the reverse: out of 38 races to be held in the next 2 years, 27 are Republican held, meaning there are a lot of Republicans playing defense.
It is these newly elected governors who will oversee the next round of redistricting around the 2020 Census. It was the fact that so many Republicans controlled statehouses in 2010 that allowed the party to redraw districts, favoring them to cement their grip on the U.S. House. Democrats need 24 seats to take control of the House in 2018.
“That can happen if we have maps that are fairly drawn across the country and especially the Sunbelt,” said Abrams.
“There are other states I might write off. I’m not writing this one off” to the GOP. Jennifer Duffy, Cook Political Report