Stacey Abrams to give Democratic SOTU response
The 2018 Georgia gubernatorial nominee may be a Senate contender in 2020
Fresh off her 2018 gubernatorial loss and ahead of a possible 2020 Senate bid, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams will be giving the party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the selection Tuesday, a week before the address, which had been delayed in the fight over the partial government shutdown.
Abrams, the former state House minority leader, narrowly lost the gubernatorial race to Republican Brian Kemp, the former secretary of state who had enforced restrictive voting laws. She would have become the first African-American woman to be elected governor in the country.
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Trailing by less than two points after the voting in Georgia, Abrams initially sought a runoff. But a week after the election, Abrams acknowledged Kemp’s victory, although she refused to call it a concession.
After the defeat, Abrams quickly formed a new voting rights group called “Fair Fight Georgia” and said in December that she will run for office again.
She’s regarded as a top contender for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Sen. David Perdue in 2020, which Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates a Lean Republican contest.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will be delivering the Democrats’ Spanish-language response.