Georgia Governor's Race Is a Referendum on Reproductive Rights, Voting Rights
There’s a lot at stake in Georgia’s upcoming midterm elections, especially in the gubernatorial race, where incumbent-governor Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams will come face-to-face for the second time. Abrams, who narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018, has spent the last several years working to empower voters and fight voter suppression on a national level. Now, she’s hoping to empower folks in her home state — in ways that will have a much more significant impact on the quality of their daily lives.
As the overturning of Roe v. Wade has made clear, it’s particularly important to have state-level elected officials who are willing to protect the rights and safety of their citizens. In August, GOP-controlled Kansas became the first state in the nation to have its residents heard on abortion rights — and voters overwhelmingly chose to protect the right to abortion enshrined in the state constitution. Georgians weren’t granted the opportunity to vote on their state’s restrictive abortion ban, signed into law by Kemp in 2019, but this midterm election is essentially giving voters that chance. LGBTQ rights, voting rights, and so much else is also on the ballot this November.
Teen Vogue partnered with The 19th to host Equality on the Ballot, in Atlanta, an event featuring critical conversations on the midterm elections, where Abrams spoke on some of the issues she hopes to address as governor. With less than 50 days until the election, and recent polling showing Kemp in the lead, Abrams continues to make her stance clear. She wants to be a governor who will protect the rights of and make life better for all Georgians — people who can get pregnant, people with disabilities, LGBTQ communities, those impacted by the housing crisis, and all other communities facing challenges or uncertainties. If she wins, Abrams would also become our nation’s first Black woman governor and only the fifth Black person to hold the position.
In an August op-ed, I argued that lives are at stake in Georgia's midterm elections, calling upon voters and supporters to "show up for Stacey Abrams the way she showed up for you." I recently sat down with the gubernatorial candidate to talk about where the race stands.
-more-
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/georgia-governor-race-abrams-kemp
= new reply since forum marked as read
