Stacey Abrams Files to Run for Governor in 2018
Yesterday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams filed paperwork to run for governor. Although she has not yet announced her run, her filing makes it all but certain that she will be the first Democrat to join the 2018 contest.
If she receives the Democratic nomination, Abrams will be the first woman and the first black major party nominee for governor in Georgia’s history. She has served in the state house since 2006, representing a district in the eastern Atlanta. She was elected House minority leader in 2011 and has held that position since. Although she has been a major supporter of national Democratic efforts, she has also worked with Republicans in the Georgia Legislature as a deal-maker (one notable example is her outspoken support for Governor Deal’s 2017 education reform plan-HB 338). And while she has not given up on expanding the Democratic Party in Georgia (see The New Georgia Project), she has also not become a minority leader whose only tactic is opposition.
Other possible contenders for the Democratic nomination include 2014 nominee Jason Carter and state Rep. Stacey Evans, both white moderates who might try appealing to a wider swath of the electorate, including some of the swing voters who may have voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But, as the AJC notes, Abrams will have a big advantage in the Democratic primary considering that black women make up the largest share of the primary electorate. She will likely try to cash in on some of the national connections she made to outspend any potential primary opposition.
As we’ve said before, Democrats have a lot at stake in this election. If they do not capture the governor’s office in 2018, they will not have a seat at the table when redistricting begins after the 2020 census. This could mean another decade of tough elections at the congressional and state legislative level. Demographic changes that are producing a more diverse electorate will probably give Democrats a boost, but there is only so much they can do when they are not drawing the lines. Will Stacey Abrams be the last and best hope for Georgia Democrats in the 2020s? Stay tuned to find out.
About Author
Rob
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“and state Rep. Stacey Abrams, both white moderates”
Should be “Rep. Stacey Evans”
“will be the first female” and “considering that black females”
Should be “woman” and “women”
I promise I’m not being pedantic in the second instance. Women preferred being referred to as women and not females, which tends to be used pejoratively. “Those damn females!”
++raconteuse.
Calling a woman “a female” is dehumanizing.
There are females that are not human beings. There aren’t women that are not human beings.
Certainly not! Thanks for the catches.
Good grief..
I dont know…I’m just not feelin’ it for Stacey Abrams. I dont know why exactly, but there’s just something about her that rubs me wrong.
(side note…wonder how many people think she is Jewish when they see the last name)
(second side note…you are assuming republicans will control government in 2020. Thats not a 100% given either if Trump continues to drag the brand down)
I’m still wishing she had gone for Sec of State instead. This is going to be too crowded a field. A couple of good candidates will be wasted. I was hoping Dubose could have avoided this. Maybe Jason will wait or go for something else. And the other Stacey too.
So … Jason Carter and Stacey Evans are moderates? In what sense? What is it that denotes them as such?
While “moderate Republican” actually has meaning – a Republican who deviates from the base, the national party and platform etc. on major or a large number of issues – it seems like “moderate Democrat” means typical mainstream Democrat who DOES share the same views as the base and national party on most issues. In other words, moderate Democrat means “someone who is not on the left fringe like Bernie Sanders, Barbara Boxer or Dennis Kucinich.” Which means that believing in market economics and not (publicly) being Camille Paglia or Andrea Dworkin on social issues = “moderate Democrat.”
Zell Miller and Sam Nunn were actual moderate Democrats, and they would have absolutely no chance of advancement beyond state legislator in today’s DPOG. Just as the only use that the DPOG had for John Barrow was to hold a red seat in Congress for as long as he could. If Barrow runs for governor he beats Nathan Deal, and if he runs in that 6th district race he wins without a runoff. But hey, that would require a true big tent party that wants actual moderates.