Kemp: I’m Georgia’s next governor. Democrats: Prove it

Outgoing Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a bank of cameras and welcomed into his office a man he recognized as his successor.

“The governor-elect,” Deal called Brian Kemp on Nov. 8, accepting his fellow Republican’s resignation as secretary of state and promising the two would begin work immediately on transition business ahead of a January transfer of power.

All of it would be a routine scene two days after an election — except that Kemp’s opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, maintains that enough ballots remain uncounted to force a runoff, and she’s dispatched her legal team to explore every option to see if she’s right.

“We won a clear and convincing victory,” Kemp said of returns showing him with 50.3 percent of almost 4 million votes, about a 63,000-vote lead over Abrams. That’s a narrow sum considering the nearpresidential election year turnout, though sufficient for the majority required for outright victory.

The Associated Press had not called the governor’s race as of Friday, Nov. 9.

With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the dispute is prolonging a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any U.S. state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.

The key question is how many uncounted ballots actually remain.

Kemp said on morning the morning of Nov. 8 that it’s fewer than 21,000 — almost certainly not enough to force a runoff. The elections chief from the secretary of state’s office — which Kemp ran until noon Thursday — said in an afternoon federal court hearing that the number is 21,190.

“Even if she got 100 percent of those votes, we still win,” Kemp said.

Abrams’ campaign argues the total could be higher, and the secretary of state’s office has shared scant details as officials in Georgia’s 159 counties keep counting.

“This is about the integrity of the election in the state of Georgia,” said Abrams’ campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo. “Brian Kemp can’t just walk away from that . ... Our governor (Deal) can’t just walk away from that.”

John Chandler, one of

/ Bob Andres-Atlanta Journal-Constitution Republican Brian Kemp, right, and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal hold a news conference in the Governor’s ceremonial office at the Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Atlanta, Ga. Kemp resigned Thursday as Georgia’s secretary of state, a day after his campaign said he’s captured enough votes to become governor despite his rival’s refusal to concede.