As Georgia still counts ballots to determine if Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins the state, news broke that Democratic candidate Biden has taken a narrow lead, flipping Georgia to possibly turn blue for the first time in over 20 years. A major reason for the shift has to do with someone who started the movement to turn Georgia into a blue state: former state representative and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams.
After her failed bid for governor in 2018, Abrams formed the nonprofit Fair Fight to help combat voter suppression within Georgia and increase voter registration in marginalized communities, moves that made the state potentially lean more Democratic, giving Biden an edge.
“We know that 10 years ago they wrote off the state of Georgia,” Abrams told USA Today. “But since that time we have been growing and growing …and now we’re grown! We are ready to be the blue state that we were meant to be.”
Abrams’ organization is responsible for 50,000 new voter registrations that may hold the key to Biden’s victory in the state.
“We know heading into this election we have seen dramatic turnout among communities that typically are not at the top of mind for candidates. We have seen them be engaged, be encouraged, and we have seen them turn out,” Abrams told CNN.
“I had two messages. One, voter suppression is real and we have to have a plan to fight back. Two, Georgia is real. You’ve got to have a plan to fight here,” she said Tuesday. “We were very privileged to know that by the time Joe Biden won the nomination, he had Georgia…on his mind.”