Stacey Abrams, the Democratic minority leader in Georgia's House of Representatives for the last seven years, has announced that she has filed paperwork to run for the gubernatorial nomination. Yayayayay!
Were she to win her party's nomination and then the governorship, it would make her the first Black female governor in the nation's history.
You may have seen Abrams terrific speech at the Democratic National Convention last year. If not, here it is, with transcript below. (Emphases mine.)
I am Stacey Abrams, and I join you today from the great state of Georgia!—where I am honored to lead the Democrats in the Georgia House of Representatives, and to serve on the board of the DLCC.YES! This is who I want leading the Democratic Party of the future. These are the ideas that I value.
Growing up, as the daughter of a librarian and a shipyard worker in southern Mississippi, my family was hit time and again by the economic insecurity that is too often driven by racism, sexism, and the ills that come with being born in the wrong zip code.
Still, every day, my parents taught us, all six of their children, to celebrate through service the grace that is America. To understand that, no matter how little we may have had, there was always someone with less, and it was our job to serve that person. To know that even the most powerful among us, the strongest among us, did not rise up alone.
No matter where we start, we all need help; we all need opportunity; and, when we succeed, we prosper together. That grace that my parents talked about changes the lives of our families, our communities, our countries, and the fortunes of generations who will follow.
Hillary Clinton understands that government, at all levels, is a profound expression of our common humanity and our shared values; of our aspirations, not our fears. And that is why I am so very proud to stand with this remarkable woman, with the thousands of fellow state legislators, and with each of you, as we elect Hillary to be the 45th president of these United States!
I am here today as part of a new American majority—one that has the courage to work together, rather than tear our nation apart. We are the architects of solutions to help families raise healthy children and make a living wage, rather than crippling our economic future and pushing dangerous policies that deny Medicaid expansion and reproductive choice.
We fight for more, because that is who we are! The Democratic Party is the party of civil rights and human rights; of space flight and moonshots. We will always be the party of progress and inclusion, and we will not allow this country to return to an era of discrimination.
Instead, we will elect Hillary Clinton—a clear-eyed leader who sees the future and races toward it, fearless and bold, because she knows, and we know, that America is and must always be stronger together. Thank you!
Thank you, Stacey Abrams. I take up space in solidarity with you, and I support your run for governor of Georgia.
Join Team Stacey!
Ally Boguhn at Rewire has a nice profile of Abrams: This Georgia Democrat is Aiming to be the Nation’s First Black Woman Governor.
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