Friday, Georgia Democrat candidate for Governor Stacy Abrams acknowledged that she had not and would not win, but refused to concede.
Similar to her election night speech, Abrams criticized Kemp and claimed he is “leveraging his role as the state’s top elections official to suppress voters,” according to the AJC.
“I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right,” said Abrams.
From the AJC:
Stacey Abrams ended her run for Georgia governor on Friday, but the Democrat said she would not concede the contest to Republican Brian Kemp and planned to launch a voting rights group to file “major” litigation challenging election policies.As state officials prepare to certify the vote, Abrams acknowledged the law “allows no further viable remedy” to extend her quest to be the nation’s first black female governor. But she laced her speech with biting criticism of Kemp, who she accused of leveraging his role as the state’s top elections official to suppress voters. “I will not concede,” she added, “because the erosion of our democracy is not right.”Kemp, who stepped down as secretary of state last week, swiftly thanked Abrams for her “passion, hard work and commitment to public service,” ratcheting down divisive rhetoric he’d long used to describe her.“The election is over and hardworking Georgians are ready to move forward,” said Kemp. “We can no longer dwell on the divisive politics of the past but must focus on Georgia’s bright and promising future.”The Democrat’s campaign was considering a long-shot legal challenge under a law that allows losing candidates to contest the election in the case of misconduct, fraud or “irregularities.”She would have faced a tremendous legal burden to prove her case, and even some Democrats warned that prolonging the court battle would jeopardize two down-ticket runoffs set for next month. The secretary of state could certify the election as soon as 5 p.m. Friday and cement Kemp’s victory in the tightest race for Georgia governor since 1966.The latest tally showed Abrams is roughly 55,000 votes behind Kemp — and in need of more than 17,000 votes to force a Dec. 4 runoff. Georgia law requires a runoff if no candidate gets a majority of the vote, which is only a possibility because a third-party contender netted about 1 percent.
Scratching my head over this one. If you stop running for office aren’t you implicitly conceding?
Anyway, gotta love a classy candidate who refuses to lose with dignity and instead, opts for the good ol’ accuse your opponent of stealing the election route. Which was their next move. Literally.
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