Democrat Stacey Abrams, who declared her candidacy to run in 2022 for Georgia governor on Wednesday, has been ranked as favorite to defeat Republican incumbent Brian Kemp.
Abrams, who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives between 2007 and 2017, narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018, by about 55,000 votes—or less than 1.4 point. If she wins next year, she will become the first Black governor of Georgia and the first Black woman to serve as a governor in the United States.
"Georgia is changing demographically, which is why we make Stacey Abrams 8-11 favorite to overturn her defeat to Brian Kemp from 2018. State elections are now dominated by the left-leaning Atlanta metro area, with Kemp requiring a massive groundswell of support from the rural Republican heartlands to stand a chance," Chad Yeomans, Betway spokesperson, told Newsweek.
Newsweek has contacted other bookmakers for their odds.
Abrams announced her candidacy in a tweet on Wednesday. She said: "I'm running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn't be determined by zip code, background or access to power,", posting an announcement video with the slogan "We are One Georgia."
Georgia, historically a red state, backed a Democrat in the presidential election in 2020 for the first time since 1992. Georgia also saw two runoff elections won by the Democrats in January 2021, giving them control of the Senate.
Since losing to Kemp in 2018, Abrams' profile has increased as a voting rights activist and she has been widely credited as influencing the Democrats' wins in the state in 2020 and 2021 by boosting voter turnout, especially among people of color.
Her campaign for governor will be able to attract millions, but the situation today is very different to what it was at the start of the year. The Democrats are now in a difficult position as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a significant toll in the U.S.
President Joe Biden's poll numbers have been sinking after the tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan and weeks of drama around the legislative agenda.
Unlike Abrams, Kemp is not guaranteed to be on the Republican ticket for Georgia. Donald Trump released a statement Wednesday condemning him for certifying the 2020 election results in Georgia and not going along more with the former president's baseless election fraud claims.
Trump also taunted Abrams, saying: "I beat her single-handedly, without much of a candidate, in 2018. I'll beat her again, but it will be hard to do with Brian Kemp, because the MAGA [Make America Great Again] base will just not vote for him what he did with respect to Election Integrity and two horribly run elections, for President and then two Senate seats."
Former Georgia Senator David Perdue, who lost re-election to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a runoff in January, may potentially announce a bid for governor. Georgia Republicans told CNN on Wednesday that they expected Perdue to make a decision to run against Kemp in next year's primary soon.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more
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