Stacey Abrams rejected efforts to compare her refusal to concede the Georgia governor’s race in 2018 to former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, noting her comments were based on voter access.
Abrams, who is running her second gubernatorial bid in the Peach State, has focused much of her campaign on voting rights and ballot access, particularly after her loss to Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018, which she said was a result of voter suppression. The Democratic candidate later acknowledged Kemp had won the election despite never conceding, prompting criticism from Republicans who have called her actions the original “Big Lie.”
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“I will never ever say that it is OK to claim fraudulent outcomes as a way to give yourself power,” Abrams told the 19th. “That is wrong. I reject it and will never engage in it. But I do believe that it is imperative, especially those who have the platform and the microphone, to talk about the access.”
Republicans have repeatedly tried to liken Abrams’s comments to Trump’s claims of a stolen election, which have been dubbed “the Big Lie” among Democrats. As such, those on the Right have attempted to tie Abrams to Trump, accusing the Democratic nominee of crafting the original messaging.
“Democrats attack Trump and Republicans for believing these conspiracies, believing what they call the ‘Big Lie.’ But the original Big Lie proponent was Stacey Abrams,” Brian Robinson, a Georgia-based Republican strategist, told Politico. “She was ahead of her time, as she is on so many things.”
Abrams has rejected that notion, arguing her refusal to concede was based on a lack of voter access rather than claims an election was outright fraudulent, noting her goal was not to overturn the results of the race.
“The issues that I raised in 2018 were not grounded in making me the governor,” Abrams said. “Not a single lawsuit filed would have reversed or changed the outcome of the election. My point was that the access to the election was flawed, and I refuse to concede a system that permits citizens to be denied access. That is very different than someone claiming fraudulent outcome.”
Abrams is facing Kemp in a rematch bid for Georgia’s governor, focusing much of her campaign on ensuring voter access in November. The Democrat has especially hit out against policies passed by Kemp over the last year that have made substantial changes to Georgia’s voting laws, such as implementing new requirements for absentee ballots, reducing the number of drop boxes, and establishing statewide oversight of local election boards.
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Kemp has held a steady lead over Abrams in polling, expanding his lead over his Democratic challenger in recent weeks. About half of Georgia voters say they intend to vote for Kemp, compared to 42% who say the same for Abrams, according to a Fox 5/Insider Advantage poll.
That lead of 8 percentage points is an increase from polling in July that showed the incumbent leading by 1 point. Six percent of voters remain undecided.