Two potential 2020 Democratic White House contenders are accusing Georgia Republicans of stealing the governor's race from Democrat Stacey Abrams.
Sens. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio.) have made such remarks in the past two days as Abrams and progressive groups have filed multiple lawsuits seeking certification delays and the counting of previously rejected provisional and absentee ballots. Republican Brian Kemp has declared victory in the race and called on Abrams, who trails by nearly 60,000 votes, to concede.
The race has been marked by accusations against Kemp of voter suppression, although they aren't necessarily borne out by the facts.
"I think that Stacey Abrams’ election is being stolen from her, using what I think are insidious measures to disenfranchise certain groups of people," Booker said at Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit on Tuesday.
Booker called for a Justice Department investigation into the Georgia race; the DOJ did not comment on whether it would.
"The Trump Justice Department should conduct an investigation into what happened," Booker said. "That’s not just appearance of impropriety. To me, it’s the appearance of voter fraud, voter disenfranchisement, voter suppression."
Brown spoke in front of the left-wing National Action Network on Wednesday and declared that Republicans "stole it" if Abrams doesn't win.
"If Stacey Abrams doesn't win in Georgia, they stole it," Brown said. "It's clear. I say that publicly. It's clear."
Brown has said he is thinking of running against President Donald Trump in 2020, and Booker is widely considered to be planning a run of his own.
Abrams accused Kemp at their Oct. 23 debate of creating an "atmosphere of fear" and said voters "have been purged, they have been suppressed, they have been scared."
Georgia Democrats released a new ad encouraging the count to go on as the Abrams campaign seeks enough uncounted votes to push Kemp below the 50-percent threshold and force a runoff. She still needs to net at least 17,000 votes to reach that benchmark.