Stacey Abrams interviewed with the Grio to talk about her previous defeat in the Georgia gubernatorial election as the democratic nominee and how she plans to take the victory this time for the November 8 election.
Abrams began, “While I did not win in 2018, we had the single-highest voter turnout for any Democrat in the history of the state of Georgia, and we were able to build on that in 2020 for Joe Biden, and in 2021, for [Senators] Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. For years, we’ve become convinced that we didn’t have the ability to change outcomes. Now we know we do. And part of what I’m trying to leverage is reminding people of their power to shape the future.”
She continued to explain that her advocacy work in registering more Black voters and bringing them to the polls was exactly why she believed she had a chance of winning her second race.
“Black men, in particular, have been left out of conversations,” Abrams explained, “I understand the power of Black men to participate in our elections. I also understand that their grievance is with politics writ large.” Abrams has several campaigns, especially geared towards preventing Black men from being stopped as they attempt to turn up for her at the polls: “They’re going to absolutely present obstacles, but what we’re working to do is help people navigate those obstacles…Imagine being 90 years old, having voted the same way for 15 years, and you’ve now been told or not told this year ballots are not going to show up, and now the window for getting access is even more limited.”
She simplified the election as a matter of outreach: “This is often not a conversation of whether they’re going to choose me or my opponent. It’s whether they feel that they should participate at all. And my responsibility is to articulate a plan that says, this is how we win.”
Abrams even told the outlet about some of the policies she was hoping to instill if she won the election; those of which included supporting Black small businesses, supporting Black boys in their transition from the school system, the creation of apprenticeships and the like – while her opponent’s ambitions focus on wealthy white Georgians.
“I want to invest in all of us. And that’s what’s at stake in this next election.” Abrams finished, “We have an opportunity to tell a brand new story not only about Georgia but about the South by electing me as the next governor.
