Republicans Launch ‘Stop Stacey’ Abrams Campaign to Keep Her From Governor In 2022

A new group launched its effort Monday to target voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, who is likely to challenge Republican Gov. Brian Kemp next year.

The independent group, known as “Stop Stacey” said they will build a “robust state and national fundraising operation” targeting Abrams with opposition research, digital ads, and other media resources, according to Fox News. In the release, the group described itself as “a national, grassroots organization of engaged conservatives who are committed to protecting our future from Stacey Abrams, her left-wing backers, and their radical, un-American agenda.”

“After losing the White House and United States Senate in 2020, grassroots Republicans across Georgia and America are standing together to stop radical Stacey Abrams,” said “Stop Stacey” senior strategist Jeremy Brand in the statement. “There is no time to waste: We must stand up, fight back, and Stop Stacey.”

Abrams, along with the coronavirus pandemic, are largely the reasons Donald Trump is no longer president. In 2018, Abrams became the first Black, female gubernatorial nominee of a major political party. However, she lost the election to Brain Kemp, who was accused of widespread voter suppression. Abrams acknowledged she lost, but never conceded to Kemp, arguing that his former post as Secretary of State made it easy for him to suppress votes.

In the aftermath, Abrams founded the voting rights group Fair Fight, which in addition to becoming a fundraising behemoth for Democrats in Georgia, got more than 200,000 African Americans in the state registered to vote.

Abrams’ effort came to fruition during the presidential election when Democratic Nominee Joe Biden became the first Democrats to win Georgia in an election since Bill Clinton. Abrams was also largely credited with getting Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock elected to the Senate and giving Democrats a 50-50 split, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote.

On the eve of the Georgia Senate runoffs, Biden stressed that “nobody in America has done more” for voting rights and the party.

“Stacey, you’re changing Georgia,” Biden said. “You’ve changed America.”

Abrams has not publicly announced that she would run for governor again, but all signs are pointing to her making another run for the position. Politico described it as “the worst kept secret in Georgia.”

Meanwhile, Kemp was largely blamed for the state’s election losses by Trump along with current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Both Kemp and Raffensperger both rec.eived threats in the weeks after the election along with Georgia voting systems manager Gabriel Sterling. Sterling was forced to conduct a press conference debunking each and every claim Trump made about the state.

Trump also called Raffensperger before the election was certified asking him to find 11,700 votes in order to turn the election in his favor. After avoiding his calls, Raffensperger told Trump there was nothing he could do before releasing audio of the call.