The Real Hero Behind the Miraculous Georgia Comeback in the US Presidential Election Was Someone Else

Stacey Abrams Led Voter Movement
800,000 Voters Registered... Mobilizing Black, Latin, and Asian Voters
First Black Female Gubernatorial Candidate in U.S. History
Once Considered as Biden's Vice Presidential Pick
Expected to Play Role in January Senate Election Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Brian Kemp, Governor of Georgia, USA, announced on the 20th (local time) that President-elect Joe Biden has ultimately won in Georgia as well. This result came after a series of events including a deficit, a narrow margin, a dramatic comeback, and a recount. It is the first time in 28 years that a Democratic presidential candidate has won in Georgia.

American media point to a Black woman as the protagonist of this dramatic turnaround in Georgia. The true hero of the victory is Stacey Abrams (46). Abrams, a lawyer who graduated from Yale Law School, is a grassroots politician in Georgia. The American political media outlet Politico evaluated that the work Abrams and the group of activists she leads have been preparing for the past decade shone in this presidential election.

They noted that Georgia has long leaned conservative, and that voter suppression through the misuse of voter registration systems by the state government, as well as the failure of Democratic voter registration campaigns, contributed to this. This was clearly confirmed in the gubernatorial election two years ago. Abrams, who ran with the title of the first Black female gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history, faced the incumbent governor, who was then Georgia's Secretary of State overseeing elections. Before running for governor, he purged a large number of registered voters. Abrams protested, accusing then-Secretary of State Kemp of suppressing voters' rights. For this reason, Abrams did not concede defeat.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

In U.S. elections, voter registration is required to vote, and Abrams registered 200,000 new voters in the gubernatorial election. In this presidential election, she registered 800,000 more voters. People of color, young voters, and others who could cast a vote for President-elect Biden registered in large numbers and exercised their voting rights. The number of voters who cast ballots in Georgia in this election was 4,998,566.

Regarding the election that Abrams achieved, the Democratic Party reaffirmed that the secret to overturning Republican strongholds is to mobilize voters who had not previously participated in politics and directly lead them to vote. Abrams has been preparing a campaign to expand voting participation among minorities and young voters since she was the Democratic leader in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2013.

Regarding voter mobilization, Abrams stated, "It is not simply about sharing the value of democracy with them, but persuading them that voting can bring about real change."

She did not merely appeal to values. In a memo sent to Democratic strategists, she introduced that the Democratic victory in Georgia is based on demographic changes centered around suburban areas, leading these people to actually participate in voting and bringing new voters to the polls. She saw through Georgia's changes.

Stacey Abrams, former Georgia State Representative
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

In fact, the population composition around Atlanta, Georgia, is changing. The numbers of Black, Latino, and Asian populations are rapidly increasing. She believed these groups could be mobilized as a potential anti-Trump force. Especially, Black female voters showed strong power in this election. According to exit polls, 91% of Black women supported President-elect Biden in this election.

According to The New York Times (NYT), Abrams' name was also on the final list of Biden's vice-presidential candidates. If she had been nominated as the first Black vice-presidential candidate, it is predicted that the political storm in the South would have been even stronger.

Even after the presidential election, Abrams' actions are drawing more attention. There is a forecast that whether the Democratic Party can become the majority in the Senate depends on her. Georgia held two Senate elections during the last presidential election, but no candidate received a majority. Unlike other states that declare the candidate with the most votes the winner, Georgia law, which introduced a runoff system, will hold a runoff election on January 5 next year. The current expected seat count for the new Congress starting next year is 50 seats for Republicans and 48 for Democrats. If the Democrats secure both Georgia seats, the count will be tied at 50-50. If Senator Kamala Harris, as Senate President, casts a tie-breaking vote, it could become 51-50. For the Democrats, the last path to victory in the Senate, following the House, lies in Georgia's choice.

U.S. NBC News reported that attention is focused on whether Abrams can again create a blue wave (the Democratic Party's symbolic color) in next year's Senate elections. Although there are separate Senate candidates, the miracle of Democratic candidates sweeping in Republican strongholds depends on Abrams' efforts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.