By ELIZABETH LIU
Staff Writer
Breaking into the governor candidacy for any politician is a long haul, and often more like a marathon than a sprint. Especially for female candidates, running for any election historically has been a challenge. However, as soon as Stacey Abrams was nominated for the Democratic Party for Georgia, it was absolutely clear that Abrams had a true spirit for American democracy and the people of Georgia.
Before she ran for Governor, Stacey was Minority House Leader for the Democratic Party from 2011 to 2017 before she decided that she would run for governor. She lost the election to a very close percentage to the Republican candidate. However, this didn’t mean that Abrams gave up.
Abrams decided to rise above her election loss and give a rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union. She spoke of being of the middle socioeconomic status of class; Abram’s mother was a librarian, and her father was a shipyard worker, according to her State of the Union rebuttal, and also said that she grew up with only one car. According to Abrams, her core family values were “faith, service, education, and responsibility.”
The New York Times has written numerous pieces on Abrams’ campaign, even before she lost the election. Before Abrams, Democratic candidate for Governor, Andrew Gillum, was the most recent African-American who desired to be the first black Governor of Florida. Since then, Abrams was the most recent African-American candidate to run for election of any position.
There have only been four African-American governors in the history of the United States, before Abrams, according to CNN. However, these governors were all male.
If Abrams had been elected, she would have been the first female African-American governor of the state of Georgia and would have made political history if she were elected.
However, despite losing the election, Abrams decided not to give up on American democracy.
According to the Washington Post, Abrams was the first African-American female candidate to give a rebuttal against the State of the Union.
According to the same source, Georgia has had a Republican Governor since 1998, and Abrams would have been the first elected Democrat. It was also said that Abrams was running a campaign that nobody had ever seen before, and “depended on minority and low-frequency voters and championing an unflinchingly progressive message.”
Georgia has not elected a Democratic candidate since the year of 1998, according to multiple sources such as CNN and The Washington Post.
It has recently been announced by theHill.com that Abrams is seeking advice for possible intentions to run for Senator of Georgia in 2020, to challenge current Republican David Perdue in 2020.
Women have made tremendous progress in American politics today. This is the most diverse and female Congress that the United States has ever had in the history of the country. The reason for this is for female leaders such as Abrams and Nancy Pelosi are standing up for themselves. Female political leaders are sick and tired of the patriarchal rule in the current world of politics.
Abrams won the candidacy primaries by a whopping 53 percent, according to The Washington Post.
Abrams would have been the first black woman in the state of Virginia to win a gubernatorial race, which is the election for a state governor. In the United States elections history, there has not been a black female governor in four years. Abrams was groomed into creating that change. However, despite high numbers in the primaries, Abrams lost the Georgia governance to the Republican candidate.
Senator Bernie Sanders also seemed to be excited at the prospect of Abrams speaking her rebuttal against the current president.
The Boston Globe tweeted the following: “Stacey Abrams, who ran for Georgia Governor, will deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s address.” Sanders replied in response via Twitter: “Stacey Abrams is a great choice to deliver the Democratic response. I’m very much looking forward to her speech.”
In another recent tweet on Feb. 5, 2019, Dan Pfeifer, former Senior Advisor to Barack Obama tweeted the following: “Stacey Abrams should run for President.”
Stacey Abrams is a strong believer in voting rights, the minority group of citizens in America, and American democracy. She would do an excellent job in running for President. As a fellow Democrat and liberal Political Science Major at Saint Rose, I sincerely hope that she takes this compliment into serious consideration as we watch the race for 2020 American Presidency unfold.
In Georgia, a strong and independent candidate for Governance is essential, especially if they are from the Democratic party. The Democrats are in dire need for a strong candidate if they want to proceed over the current Republican takeover in Washington.
