Stacey Abrams Says She’s Confident She’s Got the Black Georgia Vote Behind Her
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams dismissed concerns that she doesn’t have adequate support from Black voters in her second run for governor.
In an appearance Oct. 9 on “Fox News Sunday” she said the claims are a “manufactured crisis” that is “designed to suppress voter turnout,” insisted her polling numbers among Black voters are strong, and also said she is unconcerned about incumbent Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp holding events to court Black voters before the November election.
The race contest has been very close for months. The rematch between the pair comes after Abrams was defeated for the governorship in 2018. According to the most recent poll from InsiderAdvantage and WAGA, Kemp leads Abrams by 5 points. However, Black voters are favoring Abrams at 83 percent to just 9 percent for Kemp.
In a poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Abrams has nearly 80% of the Black vote, with 75 percent of Black men supporting her.
Speaking on the news show, Abrams said, “I do not take any voting bloc for granted. I may be African-American, but I’m not entitled to a single vote that I don’t earn.”.
Although Abrams narrowly lost to Kemp in the 2018 election, . she won the majority of the Black vote in the race with 94 percent, according to the Associated Press
Abrams took the opportunity to push her proposed policies. She said she wants to expand Medicaid, address the rates of incarceration the disproportionately affect Black Georgians, and to reduce the “one hundred-year financial gap” that exists between white and Black-owned businesses.
Abrams has long held that in the 2018 contest that she lost, voter suppression was a major issue, but “Fox News Sunday” host seemed to suggest that the issue is nonexistent. But Abrams swiftly replied.
“Voter suppression is not about how many people try to vote. It’s about whether or not there are obstacles and barriers to voting that are created by he very state that should be guaranteeing their access,” she said. “And so, yes, I am always going to be concerned about access to the right to vote, especially when we have a governor who signed the bill that makes it even more difficult.”
