Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp are competing in a potentially historic toss-up race to become Georgia’s next governor.
Abrams is currently the minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and is the first black female gubernatorial candidate from a major party in the US. She focused her progressive campaign on bringing in new voters and rallying voters of color who usually sit out, and it worked. She also has high-profile support from celebrities and former President Obama.
Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, is campaigning to a conservative base in rural parts of the state, hoping to keep the seat red after current Gov. Nathan Deal completes his two terms.
The race has garnered national attention over claims that Kemp is suppressing voter access— putting 53,000 registrations mostly from black voters on hold and saying (in leaked audio) that he’s “concerned” about Abrams’s get-out-the-vote efforts. A federal judge recently sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged Kemp’s strict interpretation of the “signature match” law for absentee ballots.