Georgia turning blue? Many accredit that to Stacy Abrams and her tireless efforts to increase new voter turnout in the 2020 election. Abrams has helped approximately 800 thousand Georgians register to vote and mobilized voters of color across the country. She is an instrumental part of President-Elect Joe Biden’s near victory in Georgia.
In 2018, Yale law school grad Abrams ran against Republican Brian Kemp in a race to become Georgia’s governor. Kemp was Georgia’s Secretary of State, and as such oversaw voter registration and elections. Amid accusations of racially motivated voter suppression, Kemp’s office purged more than 1.4 million voter registrations between 2012 and 2018, with a half million cancelled on a single night in 2017. These voter registration cancellations were overwhelmingly people of color.
Abrams lost the 2018 gubernatorial race by a narrow margin—fewer than 55,000 votes—amid great controversy over the purged voter registrations, and many felt the race was stolen from her. Still, she didn’t quit the fight.
Abrams regrouped and spearheaded an organization called Fair Fight, aiming to protect voter rights by fighting the purged voter rolls, long lines, and other factors that disproportionately affect the voting rights of people of color. Her network brought voter suppression into the light and resulted in more than 800,000 new legal voter registrations.
Abrams was on the vice presidential shortlist, but was ultimately passed over in favor of Kamala Harris. Still, because of Abrams’s efforts, the historically “red” state of Georgia turned blue, with many people afforded their right to vote.
With Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, we’re hoping Abrams becomes a vital part of the new administration as she continues fighting for fairness and change.