Abrams would become the first black female US governor if she had pulled off a win in the presidential state
Stacey Abrams has conceded defeat to Republican Brian Kemp in the race for governor of Georgia, marking a reversal of the trend in 2018 for early victories for women and other ethnic minorities to go down in defeat.
Abrams was swept out of the US House of Representatives in her bid to be the first black female governor in the country’s history.
Abrams had lost to Kemp by 1.9% and by 2.8% in precincts that included her home city of Atlanta.
“This is a bittersweet outcome,” Abrams said. “This is not a victory because I have not broken the glass ceiling. This is a victory because we did the work to break the glass ceiling and to get us to the point where there will be more women and more people of colour in elected office.”
African-American voters made up 39% of the electorate in Georgia, the White House and a Democratic stronghold.
Kemp won support from white voters, who made up 80% of the electorate.
The Republican nominee has been a political lightning rod and firebrand throughout his political career, which began in 1998 when he was a local prosecutor in the Atlanta suburbs.
He served as secretary of state from 2003 to 2006, during the Bush administration, and then as a congressman from 2003 to 2007.