Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who garnered national attention after narrowly losing her bid for governor last year, announced Tuesday that she will not run for Senate, despite a fierce lobbying effort by party leaders.
Abrams, 45, who in recent months has said she also was considering a presidential bid, did not say in a video statement what her next political move would be. She did vow to continue her fight against voter suppression, which she has said played a factor in her gubernatorial race against Republican Brian Kemp.
“I am so grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have received, from fellow Georgians to leaders of Congress and beyond,” Abrams said in a two-minute video posted to Twitter early Tuesday. “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.”
Georgia has been a reliably Republican state, but shifting demographics there have convinced Democrats that they have a chance of winning a Senate seat. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recruited Abrams for the seat, held by first-term Republican Sen. David Perdue, seeing it as a prime opportunity if Abrams were the Democratic candidate.
Although her decision leaves party leaders without a candidate who has run statewide in Georgia, Abrams said she would “do everything in my power to ensure Georgia elects a Democrat to the United States Senate in 2020.”
