Stacey Abrams in 2022 GA Governor's race
On Civil Rights:
Voter suppression is an existential crisis in the US
voting rights are essential and fundamental to democracy. We are facing an existential crisis in the United States. When our democracy is shredded by a
naked pursuit of power that allows states to suppress the right to vote, and handicaps or neuters our only federal response, which was the Voting Rights Act, we face a crippling challenge to our democracy.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Drugs:
For medical marijuana; open to legalizing recreational use
Abrams supports Georgia's medical marijuana legislation and wants to legalize growth of marijuana in Georgia for medical use.
Abrams also supports decriminalizing some marijuana violations, similar to what the city of Atlanta has done. She says she is open to legalizing recreational marijuana if there's a strong substance abuse network in place.
Source: WMAZ CBS-TV-13 on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Nov 2, 2018
On Foreign Policy:
We've returned to isolationism, driven by fear-mongering
I no longer believe that there is this bright line between domestic and foreign policy. I think what we have seen play out in the last few years has shown us just how thin that line is, if the line exists at all. You cannot be an effective leader in
domestic policy if you do not understand how foreign policy not only informs, but sometimes challenges and pushes into relief the tensions that exist. And so, yes, I care a lot about foreign policy and have been doing it for a while.
We've, unfortunately, returned to what can often be cast as sort of the know-nothing time of our foreign policy. When we were an isolationist country, that is much of what we're seeing now, only instead of it being grounded in a sense that
America is stronger by itself it's actually couched more, I believe, because of the leader we have, in racism and xenophobia and sexism and homophobia, misogyny. And it's driven by a fear-mongering that is undermining exactly who we should be.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Our moral credibility in the world has been diminished
My deepest fear is that we will have to take a long time to restore our position in the world because our moral credibility has been diminished. It is a matter of degree, not of difference. We have to remember that in the United States it looks
slightly different, but we have a Muslim ban on entry, we have undervalued and mistreated voters right here at home, and we have allowed the blossoming of laws that have systematically suppressed minority rights and minority votes.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Representation matters in our foreign service
As of 2018, our Foreign Service corps was 88% white and two-thirds male. That has not always been so. Under George Bush, George W. Bush, Clinton, Obama, we actually saw a diversification of our foreign policy corps in a way that was truly reflective of
who we are as America. Representation matters, but also the diversity of ideas and our ability to engage. When we send our foreign corps to the Middle East, having women who can have conversations with other women is an important consideration.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Concerned China building infrastructure, relationships
What China is doing with infrastructure, it is deeply concerning because that type of largess comes with obligations. There is a good to building infrastructure in place where colonization and disinvestment has disrupted development. But I think we
should be deeply concerned about how it's coming into being. We need to be prepared to intercede when the bill comes due. Because China understands what they're doing. They are building out not only infrastructure but relationships.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Free Trade:
Trade policy should not be based on brinksmanship
I think the responsibility of foreign policy leaders is to remind domestic communities that it matters how people operate abroad because it increases our national security if they're not angry with us. It increases our national security if we are making
smart policies about access to weapons but also access to medicines. It's connecting the dots so that people recognize that we are part of a global community, and that we are safer and stronger and more effective when we have foreign allies.
The only solution will be to engage in trade policy and a trade engagement that is not based on brinksmanship, which is what we've seen play out for the last few years. For many states, our agricultural sector is the number-one industry.
When you cut off those who are exporting our goods, you are hurting our farmers at home. They cannot afford it. And we are undermining our national security by undermining our economic security.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Government Reform:
Fair Fight Georgia helped Biden and Democratic Senate
Stacey Abrams' political future is the subject of intense speculation after she helped turn Georgia blue for President-elect Joe Biden. A gubernatorial primary will take place to unseat Republican Gov. Brian Kemp; Abrams is considered to be the presumed
frontrunner for the nomination.Since her first governor run in 2018, Abrams has since escalated her organizing and mobilizing efforts with Fair Fight, the group she founded in the aftermath of that election, and offered a strong closing pitch to
voters to "make a plan to vote early" leading up to Nov. 3.
"One of the ways we were able to flip Georgia was because I have been working on it for ten years," Abrams went on. "I know the work we did across this country through Fair Fight 2020 made
certain we had enough states that flipped back that we could work together to make certain Joe Biden became president, and now I'm focused on getting the last piece across the finish line, and that is the U.S. Senate race on January 5th in Georgia."
Source: The Daily Beast blog on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Nov 12, 2020
On Government Reform:
Ensure everyone trusts the system, and it's worthy of that
ABRAMS: I think it's always dangerous to undermine the integrity of elections without evidence. When we challenged voter suppression, we were able to prove it, we were able to correct for it in many ways, and that's why we saw a dramatic increase in
turnout from 2018 to 2020 where more voters were able to cast their ballots and have those ballots counted. my mission is to ensure that everyone trusts the system and that we make certain that it's a system that's worthy of that trust.
Source: ABC This Week interview for 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race
Jan 3, 2021
On Government Reform:
Only obligation we have is make sure every vote is counted
It's important for us to recognize that no one is entitled to victory. The only obligation we have is to ensure that every voter has the right to have their voice heard. I never challenged the outcome of the election. I challenged the system that denied
access to the right to vote. I find it very troubling that, instead of fighting to make certain that every voter can have their vote counted, that they're challenging in an attempt to declare victory for someone who clearly lost the election.
Source: CNN State of the Union on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Jan 3, 2021
On Government Reform:
You don't win county by county; you win person by person
What I remind people of is that in the statewide election, you don't win county by county. You win person by person. And that's what we've been doing. Fair Fight has been willing to invest millions of dollars into organizations,
smaller groups, that have been doing the grassroots organizing and mobilizing that it's going to take to win. And we are very hopeful and very determined to do so.
Source: Meet the Press interview on 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race
Jan 3, 2021
On Principles & Values:
Prefers organizing systems for change to legislating
The Senate was not the right place for me. My bent for most of my adult life has been systems--figuring out how do you organize systems to create change, to structure and promote the ideals that I hold to be true. I've created organizations such as the
New Georgia Project, and most recently Fair Fight Action and Fair Count, to tackle the issues that I see. And those tend to be more executive-level jobs. I've run organizations. I have been a part of managing teams.
Our responsibility is to always have a forward vision that assumes that we will be better than we were. That's been the experiment of the United States. Our national experiment has always been about recognizing
that we make deeply, deeply flawed decisions, that we have been inhumane in ways that are a shame to our national history, but why we are who we are is that we confront those challenges and we try to improve.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On War & Peace:
US should be judicious & careful with our use of military
The reality is that often the armed conflicts that we enter--not always--but there are some armed conflicts where it is about the protection of people's bodies. And we cannot diminish the importance of America leveraging its military might to
actually protect those communities that are at risk. I think we should always be judicious about and careful with our use of military might. War is a terrible, horrific thing.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Welfare & Poverty:
Reducing the top not enough on income inequality
We have to recognize that income inequality is a danger because of what it signals to our economy. We need to be increasing access to economic security, we need to be taking aggressive steps to ensure that more people can make more money and do more
things, but I disagree sometimes with the notion that if we just reduce the top then that's enough, because if we reduce the top but we don't increase the bottom and we don't strengthen the middle, then we're going to be in the same place again.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2022 Georgia Governor race
May 10, 2019
On Abortion:
Georgia law would investigate women for miscarriage
This law, as it stands right now, will investigate women for miscarriage or for pregnancy loss. It tells women that they are in danger of going to jail if they are found to have committed some type of feticide against -- essentially, if they are
drinking a glass of wine, because we have now granted personhood. We do not know what this law means. That means that women are in danger. They're in danger of losing their liberties. They're in danger of not having health care.
Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Aug 7, 2022
On Abortion:
Rights should be sacrosanct regardless of state lines
A majority of Georgians rejected the notion of overturning Roe v. Wade. What is more concerning to me though is the notion that our constitutional rights and bodily autonomy that women for 50 years have come to rely on will now be subject to state by
state imprimatur rather than being governed by a federal notion that no matter who you are, no matter where you live, we live in the United States and our ability to control our bodies should be sacrosanct regardless of state lines.
Source: Fox News Sunday on 2022 Georgia Governor race
Jun 26, 2022
On Abortion:
Politicians are not scientists, don't set arbitrary limits
You do it by not setting arbitrary, gestational limits, that rarely reflect medical decision making. This is a medical decision. When we tell women and their doctors to make these choices, we are saying we respect the responsibility that women have
and the obligation that doctors have. That politicians are not scientists. We should not be setting into law these moving targets that do not reflect the reality that women face when they're sitting in that doctor's office.
Source: Meet the Press on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Aug 7, 2022
On Crime:
$25 million in state grants for police salary raises
[Republican Gov. Brian] Kemp has focused on initiatives cracking down on gang violence and sex trafficking. Both candidates support increased pay for law enforcement. Kemp this year increased state law enforcement pay by $5,000.
If elected, Abrams plans to provide $25 million in state grants to local agencies for salary raises and plans to raise base salary
for state patrol, correctional officers and community supervision officers to approximately
$50,000 per year. She has discussed plans to develop initiatives to increase law enforcement accountability and accountability.
Source: The Hill on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 8, 2022
On Crime:
We cannot punish our way into public safety
My intent is to balance public safety and justice. Because doing otherwise has never worked. We cannot punish our way into public safety. But we also have to recognize that there are deep challenges in how law enforcement engages our communities.
And that is why I'm pushing both for public safety measures, accountability measures, and criminal justice reform measures.
Source: Fox News Sunday on 2022 Georgia Governor race
Jun 26, 2022
On Families & Children:
Supports Plan B and emergency contraceptives
[GOP Gov. Brian] Kemp has touted signing the "toughest abortion ban in the nation," Georgia's "heartbeat bill" (HB 481) in 2019. The new law went into effect this year and essentially prohibits abortions once a fetal heart beat is detected, which
proponents argue is typically about six weeks of pregnancy. The new law has exceptions for rape and incest if a police report is filed.Kemp has vowed to continue to fight for life, while Abrams said she would repeal Georgia's abortion law, if
elected. Abrams argues that women should have the freedom to make their own medical decisions and that forcing women to carry a pregnancy places women at risk of poverty and maternal mortality, especially as
Georgia is in the top five states with the highest maternal deaths. Abrams plans to increase availability of Plan B and emergency contraceptives, if elected.
Source: The Hill on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 8, 2022
On Government Reform:
Lawsuit of 80,000 complaints against 2018 Governor election
A debate moderator reminded Abrams that she had rejected the outcome of the 2018 election, which she lost by more than 50,000 votes. She was asked to confirm whether she'd concede the race in the event her opponent wins."I will always acknowledge
outcomes to elections but will never deny access to every voter," she said. Abrams assured the audience that she eventually recognized that Kemp won the election in 2018, after she first said it was "rigged."
"In 2018, I began my speech on Nov. 16
acknowledging that Gov. Kemp had won the election. I then proceeded to lay out in grave detail the challenges faced by voters under his leadership as secretary of state--80,000 complaints, and it took four years of federal investigation in a lawsuit,"
she said. "We didn't win every single claim, but we forced massive changes to the election laws." Earlier this month, an Obama-appointed federal judge dismissed major contentions in Abrams's legal case that her defeat to Kemp in 2018 was illegitimate.
Source: National Review on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Jul 19, 2022
On Government Reform:
2020 election integrity law is the "new Jim Crow"
Abrams [in her debate with Republican Governor Brian Kemp] alleged that the Kemp administration, including the governor and secretary of state Brian Raffensperger, has since undermined those reforms [instituted after the 2018 election] and has made
voter suppression the "hallmark" of its leadership. "He has assiduously denied access to the right to vote," she said of her rival.Kemp retorted that Abrams joined the Democratic bandwagon that claimed S.B. 202, the election-integrity law passed in
Source: Yahoo News on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 9, 2022
On Gun Control:
Opposes constitutional carry; supports background checks
[GOP Gov. Brian] Kemp signed "constitutional carry" earlier this year allowing Georgians to carry a gun without a license to carry permit. He campaigned on the measure in 2018 and his former primary election opponent
David Perdue said the move was a political ploy.Abrams and opponents of the new law say they believe it will lead to increased gun violence and she plans to repeal the law.
She also plans to push for a new law that requires background checks for gun sales through private purchases and gun shows,
as background checks are currently only required if purchased from a licensed dealer.
Source: The Hill on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 8, 2022
On Jobs:
Constitutional amendment to bring casinos & online betting
If reelected, [GOP opponent Gov. Brian] Kemp plans to use nearly $1 billion from the state's budget surplus to issue $250 for single filers, $375 for a single filer who is head of household and $500 for a married couple filing jointly in Georgia.
Kemp has touted his leadership landing Georgia a top state for business for eight years and a record low unemployment rate of 2.8% as of July.
Part of Abrams' economic plan includes leading efforts for a constitutional amendment to bring casinos to Georgia and legislation allowing online sports betting, with some proceeds possibly used to fund education initiatives.
Much of her plan focuses on increasing wages, small businesses and rural workforce.
In 2019, Kemp launched Georgia's Rural Strike Team to help market and train rural communities seeking businesses.
Source: The Hill on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 8, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 14, 2023