Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician whom many hope will be America’s first black female governor, graces the cover of Time magazine this week as the publication focuses its latest issue on the American South.
At 44, the former Georgia state Senate minority leader has a proven track record. Time focuses on her gravitas and her considerable political talent, demonstrated in her ability to work with a Republican governor and legislature to bring criminal justice reform to the state, as well as helping to secure its largest-ever public transportation package.
“Her campaign isn’t just a playbook; it’s an act of imagination,” Molly Ball writes in the Time article. As with other candidates representing the left in these year’s midterms, Abrams’ campaign hopes to re-energize its base: rallying more progressive whites and people of color and making them excited about punching a ballot this November.
And as Vox observes, the difference between Abrams and her opponent, Republican Brian Kemp, is stark, both in strategy and demeanor. In a recent article, Vox used a pair of campaign ads to highlight the night-and-day difference, with Abrams, who vows to become “the public education governor,” focusing on policy and achievements while Kemp focuses on...standing for the national anthem.
Still, Abrams has an uphill battle to win the governor’s seat this fall. As the Weekly Standard reports, while Georgia has certainly shifted more purple in recent elections, Abrams’ Republican opponent Kemp still has “a strong initial edge” in the conservative state.
But as Time notes, Abrams is no stranger to thwarting the GOP’s plans. The magazine cites her 2012 effort to stop Republicans from winning a super-majority (two-thirds of the seats) in the state senate.
Abrams devised a national funding strategy and a grassroots campaign strategy that focused on education, economy, and good government. She recruited candidates. And she got the job done.
“Republicans had the majority of the voters, but they had drawn into each of those districts a sizable minority population that they presumed would not vote,” Abrams told Time. “And they presumed there was no universe where that minority population would form a coalition with white Democrats to win.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote from Molly Ball, a writer for Time magazine, to Ilyse Hogue, president the abortion-rights group NARAL.