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New Stacey Abrams Ad Puts Asterisk Next to Kemp’s Governor Title

Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate has pressed Democrats to stop 'relitigating' elections

March 11, 2020

A new ad from Stacey Abrams's voting-rights nonprofit displays an asterisk next to Georgia governor Brian Kemp's (R.) name as the Democrat continues to suggest her former opponent's 2018 victory was illegitimate.

Starting with the words "Governor* Kemp?" flashed on the screen, Fair Fight Action attacked Kemp because he "sure does like to blow things up."

The asterisk linked to an article in the Atlantic from Nov. 7, 2018, in which Emory professor Carol Anderson argued Kemp's lead over Abrams in the gubernatorial race that year "needs an asterisk."

When asked in January about the current 2020 field, Abrams said it was important to "stop re-litigating past elections."

Fair Fight Action did not respond to a request for comment on the ad, which attacked the governor for cutting funding for various state programs.

Abrams refused to officially concede the race despite losing by more than 54,000 votes and failing to keep Kemp short of the 50-percent threshold to avoid a runoff. She called Kemp an architect of voter suppression due to his role as Georgia's secretary of state and has repeatedly said in the months since her defeat that she "won" the election.

Her cause in Georgia has received attention from national Democrats, with presidential candidates such as Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) saying the race was stolen from Abrams.

Despite the claims of voter suppression, voter registration and turnout increased while Kemp was secretary of state. Fact checks have found there is no evidence voter suppression prevented Abrams from winning.

After she lost, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action to tackle voting rights issues and she said she is open to being the running mate for the eventual 2020 Democratic nominee.

The suggestion that Kemp is illegitimate is nothing new for Fair Fight Action, which has also referred to Kemp as "Gov*" in numerous tweets.

Hillary Clinton and other Democrats fumed in 2016 when Donald Trump suggested he would not accept the results of that year's election. Clinton called it a "direct threat to our democracy."