Stacey Abrams will not run for Senate in 2020
Former gubernatorial candidate and Democratic lightning rod Stacey Abrams will not run for Senate in Georgia in 2020, she announced in a video on Tuesday morning.
"The Senate provides a singular platform from which to address the issues of access to justice, economic security, health care and restoring the integrity of our nation's democracy. However, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate the the U.S. Senate," Abrams said.
As for the presidential election in 2020, Abrams will "keep giving thoughts to other opportunities," she said in a radio interview on Tuesday morning.
Abrams made a splash in the 2018 midterm elections when she narrowly lost the race for Georgia governor to Republican Brian Kemp. She has stayed active since the election and gave the Democratic response to the president;s State of the Union address in February, a testament, experts said, to the power Democrats believe Abrams holds in connecting with a diverse American electorate.
The enthusiasm and turnout for Abrams, who would’ve been the first Democrat to hold the seat in two decades and was the first black woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the U.S., led to a push from Democratic leadership for Abrams to run for office again, including from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In a Twitter video Tuesday, Abrams thanked her supporters in Georgia and in Congress.
"However, the fights to be waged require a deep commitment to the job and I do not see the U.S. Senate as the best role for me in this battle for our nation's future," Abrams said.
She promised to help elect a Democrat to the Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. David Perdue, and to continue putting forth initiatives on voting rights, which was a central issue in her campaign.
Abrams has repeatedly and publicly said she sees herself more in an executive role rather than a legislative role. Abrams “was cold” on the idea of a Senate run as late as last week, but hadn’t made up her mind, a source close to the Georgia Democrat told ABC News.
