Stacey Abrams (born December 9, 1973, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.) is an American politician, lawyer, activist, and writer who is an influential figure in the Democratic Party, especially known for her work involving voter rights. She gained national prominence in 2018 when she ran unsuccessfully for governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman to win a major party’s gubernatorial nomination. Abrams was also the Democratic nominee in the 2022 race, but she was again defeated.

Early life and education

Abrams is the second oldest of six children. She spent much of her childhood in Gulfport, Mississippi, where her mother worked as a librarian and her father as a dockworker. When she was in high school, the family settled in Atlanta. There her parents became United Methodist ministers, and they instilled in their children the value of service to others and the importance of church. They also stressed education, and Abrams was valedictorian of her high school.

Abrams subsequently attended Spelman College in Atlanta, where she studied political science, economics, and sociology. While there she was involved in activism. She cofounded Students for African American Empowerment in 1992, and later that year the group staged a protest in which the Georgia flag—which included a Confederate battle emblem—was burned; the flag was later redesigned. Also in 1992 Abrams attended a televised town hall meeting where she accused the city’s mayor, Maynard Jackson, of ignoring the issues of the city’s African Americans. When Jackson opened the Office of Youth Services in 1993, Abrams was hired as a research assistant. After graduating from Spelman in 1995, she studied public policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She then attended Yale Law School (J.D., 1999).

State legislature and 2018 campaign for governor

Abrams began her career as a tax lawyer in Atlanta. In 2002, when she was 29 years old, she became Atlanta’s deputy city attorney, and in that role she led more than 20 attorneys and paralegals. In 2006 Abrams was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, representing a district in Atlanta. In 2010 she made history when she became the first African American to serve as minority leader in the House. During her tenure, Abrams established the New Georgia Project (2014), which sought to register voters, particularly young people and people of colour. In addition, she played a key role in defeating a tax reform bill (2011) that she noted would raise taxes on the middle class. In 2017 Abrams resigned from the House in order to enter the governor’s race.

On the campaign trail, Abrams called for greater access to health care and new investment in public schools. She also supported abortion rights and gun control. Backed by Bernie Sanders and other prominent Democrats, Abrams won the party’s primary. She faced off against the Republican nominee, Brian Kemp, who was the secretary of state, in charge of elections. The hotly contested race drew national attention. Abrams was endorsed by Barack Obama and made a campaign appearance with Oprah Winfrey. Despite such high-profile support, Abrams narrowly lost to Kemp in the 2018 election, 50.2 percent to 48.8 percent. However, she controversially refused to concede, noting allegations of voter suppression.

Voter rights and 2022 campaign

Shortly after the loss, Abrams founded (2018) Fair Fight Action to protect voter rights. She also was engaged in efforts to increase voter turnout. In 2019 Abrams became the first Black woman to give the State of the Union response as she delivered her party’s rebuttal to U.S. Pres. Donald Trump’s speech. Later that year she opted not to run for the U.S. Senate or the presidency and instead focused on securing the election of other Democratic candidates. As part of her work, she established Fair Fight 2020. After Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination for president, Abrams was reportedly under consideration as a potential vice presidential pick. However, he ultimately chose Kamala Harris. In the 2020 election cycle, Georgia flipped from Republican to Democrat as Biden won the state—and the national election—and Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were both victorious in their races, securing Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. Many credited Abrams with her party’s success in Georgia.

In 2021 Abrams announced that she would again run for governor. She ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and her opponent in the 2022 general election was again Brian Kemp. Despite initial momentum, Abrams began to fade in the polls as the election neared, and she lost to Kemp in November.

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Abrams wrote a number of books. Her nonfiction works include Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change (2018; also published as Lead from the Outside: How to Build for Your Future and Make Real Change) and Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America (2020). She also published the thriller While Justice Sleeps (2021) as well as several children’s books.