After 2 Runs, Stacey Abrams Explains Why She Is Bowing Out Of 2026 Georgia Governor Race

Abrams is sitting out on a run for Georgia governor in 2026 after running twice in 2018 and 2022 but said she will continue to fight for Georgia constituents and voters across America.

Looks like former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams is bowing out of the 2026 race, with anticipation brewing among supporters, but that doesn’t mean she is out of the fight for democracy as division deepens amid President Donald Trump’s reign.

Abrams ran gubernatorial campaigns as the Democratic nominee in 2018 and 2022, before losing to current Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. But the founder of the recently dissolved New Georgia Project and Fair Fight Action isn’t giving up the fight for Georgia constituents and voters across America.

Abrams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she has a calling that she must execute. “Americans are in pain, but they are ready to act, and now is the moment to reconnect to what is at stake and what is possible. It’s clear to me that the most effective way I can serve right now is by continuing to do this important work….,” she said, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“Authoritarian movements follow a recognizable pattern. My highest calling this year is to expose this playbook, mobilize resistance, and help us reclaim our moral leadership. I remain committed to a multiracial, multigenerational democracy that delivers real freedom and opportunity for all.”

Abrams has spoken out against Trump and the antics of the Republican Party since he first took over the White House in 2016. Kemp, once an avid supporter of the president, has since dialed back his support, especially following the 2020 election that sparked a controversial probe of election interference in the state. After Kemp spoke out against it, she commended the leader but said it’s a little too late.

She touched on how the governor shouldn’t be deemed a hero for not bowing to political corruption since he had a hand in attempting to diminish voters’ rights. “Brian Kemp did not commit a crime, which is what Donald Trump called on him to do. And I applaud his refusal to commit a crime. I applaud his refusal to overturn an election that was rightfully conducted, but that does not create a hero,” she said.

“Doing your job is the expectation that we should have. One of the challenges of the last eight years has been a lowering of our threshold for what we expect of public officials. It’s insufficient that you are lauded for simply doing the job you were hired to do, and then you get to erase the bad that you continue to do.”

While it has been reported that Abrams is joining the Charles F. Kettering Foundation as a senior fellow to strengthen democracy, a trail of outstanding governor candidates is following in her footsteps, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Additional Democratic candidates include Jason Esteves, Derrick Jackson, Ruwa Romman, and Michael Thurmond.

Primaries take place on May 19, 2026.