The Georgia Senate win didn’t come easy to Democrats, as they left no stone unturned to win the Senate majority. Of all the people who played a crucial role in winning the Senate for the Democrats after a decade, Stacey Abrams is of considerable importance.
Just two years ago, Stacey Abrams ran for governor of Georgia but failed to win, yet she showed an intent to remember. Even in a losing effort, Stacey pulled more votes than any Democrat in the history of the State of Georgia, even more than Barack Obama.
Georgia has surprised America as two Democrat nominees for the Senate defeated Republican candidates, flipping Georgia from a deep red to a blue state. Many pundits are crediting Abrams for this victory, and she is worth the given credit.
Who is Stacey Abrams? How has her political career evolved over time? How did she help Democrats win the state of Georgia? Let’s have a look.
Stacey Abrams: A Woman of Resilience
Apart from being a political leader, Stacey Abrams is also a serial entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and a nonprofit CEO.
Abrams has served the Georgia House of Representatives for eleven years and served seven years as a Democratic leader. She also became the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2018, although she did not win.
Stacey Abrams is the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States and the first Georgian to deliver the response to the State of Union. She is also a lifetime member of the council of Foreign Relations and serves on the subcommittee on Diversity.
Abrams has traveled around the world to learn and lead. She has also served as the discussion leader, editor, and essay contributor to the American Assembly on U.S Global Policy.
She could undoubtedly be termed as one of the most accomplished women of the United States.
Education, Business, and Writing Career: Things that Come Naturally to Abrams
Stacey started her life in Madison, Wisconsin, before her parents moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to complete their graduation and become Methodist ministers. From her school days, Stacey was a popular and hardworking student. She was hired as a speechwriter in her high school at the age of seventeen because of her talent for making edits and writing persuasive speeches.
Abrams earned her Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College, where she also worked in the youth service department in the office of the Atlanta Mayor. Abrams was actively engaged in politics from her early youth. Abrams also attended Yale Law School and the University of Texas and earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Public Affairs.
Abrams started her professional life as a tax attorney and co-founded Now Corp. in 2010, a financial service firm. Her other companies include Nourish, Inc., which focuses on infants and toddlers, and Sage Works, a legal consulting firm.
The writing career of Abrams started in her third year at Yale Law School. She used to write romance novels and has sold more than 100,000 copies of her literary endeavors. Most of her work is written under the pen name Selena Montgomery. Aside from novels, she has also published articles on different legal topics, the most famous of which is a book titled Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change.
How Abrams Stalwart Political Career Progressed
In 2006, Abrams moved forward to serve in politics and ran for the 89th District of the Georgia House of Representatives. She became the House minority leader in 2010 and, during her time as the minority leader, worked with the Republican governor to reform the HOPE Scholarship, providing relief to students.
Her most important political adventure was the race for governor. Georgia was a red state at that time, and it seemed impossible that a Democratic nominee could even survive in the race.
Abrams not only survived but also ended up getting the highest vote total ever taken by a Democratic nominee. She was the first Black woman to run for governor but unfortunately could not win it. Her defeat was largely due to voter suppression by the Georgia Secretary of State, who was running for governor from the Republican side.
Upon realizing the reasons behind her defeat, Abrams founded the Fair Flight 2020 organization. This organization helped Democrats financially and technically in twenty states and played a significant role in the Georgia runoffs to curb voter suppression and helping voters of color, ultimately leading the Democratic Party to victory.
A Name Behind the Georgia Senate Win
President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia in the presidential elections, which would never have been possible without Stacey Abrams.
Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992. Voters of color and African Americans are the primary voters for Democratic nominees in Georgia, but they were facing issues of voter suppression due to which the Republicans maintained Georgia as a red state.
However, Stacey Abrams realized all this and decided to campaign against it after losing the governor’s election. Her campaign achieved national recognition, and, as a result, many African Americans got their right to vote.
Stacey Abrams has emerged as the power broker among the Democrats in Georgia. Her New Georgia Project, launched before her governor campaign, has been a game-changer as they identified and registered new voters that were ignored by the Republican administration. According to the Guardian, Fair Flight and the New Georgia Project are credited with registering 800,000 new voters, excluding the ones in the runoff elections.
Conclusion
Stacey Abrams has become a household name in Georgia, as she has emerged as one of the most accomplished Black women in the country. Abrams has been a hardworking person from the beginning of her life, having numerous achievements and honors to her name.
Losing the Georgia governor race was a huge shock to Abrams and the Democratic Party, but she stood up and became even more powerful. She identified the causes and curbed them with her passion and intelligence.
Democrats have been trying for decades, but Abrams alone flipped Georgia. It won’t be wrong to say that Joe Biden, Warnock, and Ossoff owe their victory in Georgia to the untiring efforts of Stacey Abrams.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.