Stacey Abrams: Who is She, What Did She Do, Why is She Important?

If you haven’t yet heard, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been declared president and vice-president elect, now officially!! Their victory came about through factors like campaigning, increased voter turnout and aid from voter rights activists, specifically Stacey Abrams. She is being coined as 2020’s “election star” by NBC News because of an unexpected flip in Georgia that gave Biden the presidency. So, who exactly is this “election star”?  What did she do? Why is she important?

Stacey Abrams, according to wikipedia, is “an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author”, basically she has a pretty impressive resume. She served as the House Minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives and in the Georgia General Assembly. She made major waves ealy in her career by becoming the first woman to lead either party in the General Assembly and first African-American to lead in the House of Representatives. She has made extensive strides in exposing voter suppression, fighting for low-income families and students and has an overall strong devotion to public service. 

Her influence has only grown since her start in public service and fell into the nation’s eye during her historic gubernatorial run where she was the first Black woman major-party nominee in U.S. history. Unfortunately she lost, but by less than 2%, and her campaign brought to light the history of voter suppression in Georgia and how it precludes millions of Americans from exercising their democratic right. In spite, she founded Fair Fight 2020 which worked to build voter protection teams in several states. Abrams was able to register hundreds of thousands of new voters in Georgia and raised thousands of dollars to keep the Democratic party focused on the state, which paid off in the presidential election and Georgia senate elections, which are now headed to run-offs (How to Help the Run-offs). Her fight against voter suppression is far from over and many people project she will rechallenge the governor in 2022 or quite possibly make an attempt at the presidential race. 

In short, Biden has many people to thank for his win and at the top of that list is Abrams. She was the key to flipping a state that has not gone blue since 1992. She has committed her career to the people and their rights and her actions prove it. Abrams is restoring faith in the democratic system and that it is actually the voices of the people being represented in politics. In an interview with Harper’s Bazzar, Abrams said “I believe in having leadership that is competent and that is careful, that is also courageous. I want to be one of those leaders. But part of leadership is knowing when it’s your time and the best place to do your work. When I didn’t become governor, I wasn’t absolved of the responsibility of still doing the work I talked about. So I started Fair Fight, Fair Count, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project to make certain that those of us who live in the South aren’t left behind.” As a politics lover, she gives me hope that our democracy will be protected and inspires me to want to be a woman in politics.

• georgia
• politics
• Stacey Abrams
• women in politics