Democrat Stacey Abrams may be looking to run for governor yet again in Georgia, for the third cycle in a row. She ran against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018, when he was then the secretary of state, and again in 2022 for a rematch. Kemp won both times, though Abrams had a particularly notable issue accepting the results the first time around. Kemp is term-limited and may run for the U.S. Senate to challenge vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, but it doesn't sound like Abrams is ready to give up just yet.
Fox News recently spoke with a "source familiar" who confirmed that Abrams is "seriously considering" another run. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also covered how Abrams may be considering a run, with a less than flattering headline. "Stacey Abrams considers third run for governor as some Georgia Democrats move on," it read.
The focus of the piece is on how other Democrats have already announced their intention to run in this open race, as opposed to clearing the field for Abrams once more:
Unlike her 2022 rematch against Kemp, however, Georgia Democrats aren’t stepping aside. State Sen. Jason Esteves entered the race earlier this week and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is expected to follow. Others could join, too.
And unlike her last run, long an open secret, Abrams and her deputies are staying silent about her plans. Most insiders doubt she’ll run again, but she has not ruled it out. Republicans are openly goading her to take the plunge.
Meanwhile, Abrams sounds much like she did ahead of her 2018 campaign. Speaking to a crowd of young Black women recently in Atlanta, she said Democrats must “never let a good crisis go to waste” and mobilize around Trump’s policies.
“You are the ones who will see what is broken, and instead of trying to repair what was already a shoddy system, you will build a better one, the right one, the thing we should have had when we began,” she said.
Much has changed for Abrams since her 2022 defeat to Kemp. Once the unquestioned leader of state Democrats, U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — along with other rising figures — have taken the party’s mantle. And much of the infrastructure she built has eroded.
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And Abrams is no longer the feared candidate she once was for Republicans, who eagerly paint today’s Democratic contenders as Abrams acolytes. Cody Hall, a Kemp adviser, practically pleaded for her to enter the race, saying the “third time is the charm.”
“Every Georgia Democrat is scared to death Abrams runs again because they know they can’t beat her in the primary,” he said. “But she’s also probably their worst candidate in the general.”
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While Abrams may wish to once more go after President Donald Trump, as she did for her 2018 run when he was in his first term, it's worth reminding that Trump won Georgia last November. He won by about the same numbers in 2024 as he did in 2016, and did better than now former President Joe Biden when he narrowly won the Peach State in 2020.
Beyond the mockery from Republicans, the piece also highlights further concern from her fellow Democrats. The piece contains a section with the header known as 'Can she match this moment?'" There's plenty of disarray to be highlighted:
That view is far from neutral, but it reflects a deeper tension within the party: A mix of admiration for Abrams’ role in reviving Georgia Democrats and anxiety that she is too polarizing to ever win the state’s top office.
Her sky-high name recognition, robust fundraising network and national prominence would make her a de facto front-runner against almost any primary opponent in a vote dominated by Black Democrats. She still commands headlines and cable news airtime with ease.
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But her unabashed liberal platform and relentless GOP attacks have taken a toll on the swing voters who help decide Georgia races. Her rematch against Kemp in 2022 ended in a resounding defeat, thanks partly to split-ticket voters who backed Warnock but rejected her.
Though she hasn’t been on the ballot since then, the attacks have not stopped. Trump in March singled her out during an address to Congress — a reminder of her enduring role as a GOP foil.
There's another section raising concerns, including as it applies to "Abrams Fatigue," which mentions "an informal survey of Democratic activists" and how "many said they were suffering from Abrams fatigue."
While both the Fox and AJC pieces mention a lack of comment from Abrams, a local ABC News outlet from last August quoted her as saying that "all options are on the table."
Abrams has also found herself in the news this year as well, and for not the most flattering reasons. In January, we covered how groups she founded in 2013, the New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund, agreed to pay a record-high $300,000 fine for breaking state campaign finance laws during the 2018 campaign cycle. In February, she was particularly hellbent on trying to save Joy Reid's show from cancelation on MSNBC and was not successful. Then, at the start of last month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called out an Abrams-linked organization that received $2 billion, after reporting just $100 in revenue, with the administrator highlighting how "that's 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue." As Bonchie at our sister site of RedState covered, she didn't exactly do the greatest job defending herself when she went on MSNBC in an attempt to do so.
We're still waiting on all forecasters to weigh in on the race, but Cook Political Report so far considers the race to be a "Toss-Up," while Inside Elections says it's a "Battleground Republican" race.
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