Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams will not run for Senate in 2020
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who garnered national attention after narrowly losing her bid for governor last year, announced Tuesday that she will not run for Senate, despite a fierce lobbying effort by party leaders.
Abrams, 45, who in recent months has said she also was considering a presidential bid, did not say in a video statement what her next political move would be. She did vow to continue her fight against voter suppression, which she has said played a factor in her gubernatorial race against Republican Brian Kemp.
“I am so grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have received, from fellow Georgians to leaders of Congress and beyond,” Abrams said in a two-minute video posted to Twitter early Tuesday. “However the fights to be waged require a deep commitment to the job and I do not see the U.S. Senate as the best role for me in this battle for our nation’s future.”
Georgia has been a reliably Republican state, but shifting demographics there have convinced Democrats that they have a chance of winning a Senate seat. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recruited Abrams for the seat, held by first-term Republican Sen. David Perdue, seeing it as a prime opportunity if Abrams were the Democratic candidate.
Although her decision leaves party leaders without a candidate who has run statewide in Georgia, Abrams said she would “do everything in my power to ensure Georgia elects a Democrat to the United States Senate in 2020.”