There’s some bad news for two-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Her excuse for losing on November 8 just evaporated. Monday was Georgia’s first day of early in-person voting under the new election law. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported turnout on day one set a new record. From the secretary of state’s website:
Monday, October 17th marked the first day of Early Voting for the November 8th midterm election. Georgia voters turned out in record numbers for a midterm election. As of Tuesday, October 18th just over 131,000 Georgia voters have cast their ballot during Early Voting. This is up from 70,849 on the first day of Early Voting in the 2018 midterm election, marking an 85% increase, and nears the day one Early Voting turnout in the 2020 Presidential election.
Statewide, reports of long lines were minimal, though there were some reports of voters waiting in line for more than 30 minutes from a few popular voting locations in metro areas. Early voting turnout is expected to increase during the final week of early voting, and all Georgia counties will have an Early Voting Saturday this upcoming Saturday, October 22nd. To find early voting locations and hours in your county, visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
The media used to complain about some Georgia metro counties, exclusively run by Democrats, having lines that lasted hours. Sporadic reports of waits longer than 30 minutes during early voting when locations are limited seems outstanding. Georgia’s new election law set standards for wait times, and expect the counties to improve as early voting continues. In more good news, there were no reports of anyone dying of hunger or thirst despite the prohibition on Democrats holding catered events at polling places.
Related: Stacey Abrams Has a Fix for Inflation, and of Course It’s Abortion
The record early turnout is quite a rebuke of Abrams. During her Monday night debate with incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, Abrams renewed her excuse for losing against him in 2018. She accused Kemp of denying Georgians access to the ballot box and called him “the chief architect of voter suppression.” This is somewhat dishonest since her claims of voter suppression from 2018 were shot down by a U.S. District Court just a few weeks ago.
Kemp beat Abrams by more than 50,000 votes in 2018, nearly four times the amount Joe Biden won the state by in 2020. Yet you will never hear a Democrat say Biden did not win the state fair and square. All indications point to Kemp beating Abrams like a drum in their rematch in a few weeks. The RealClearPolitics average has Kemp leading by nearly six points, with the left-leaning Atlanta Journal-Constitution posting a double-digit lead for the governor. It is not possible to suppress that many votes.
Democrats do love a retread, but just like Beto O’Rourke in Texas, they will not make Abrams happen in Georgia. Of course, it is good news that coastal donors flush so much wasted cash into states like Georgia. It is the second cycle where Abrams’s donations from California have exceeded her donations from Georgia, the state she wants to lead. She is tied to President Biden and is often credited with helping him win the state in 2020. The first lady recently flew into the state for a fundraiser with no fanfare or public appearance.
According to Civiqs, Biden hovers around a -20 net approval rating in every single age demographic in the state. Sixty-eight percent of black voters approve of the Biden agenda, far below the 90% of the black vote commentators project Abrams needs in order to win. Half of the Hispanic respondents disapprove of Biden. These numbers make it nearly impossible for Democrats to win a statewide race in Georgia if Biden’s popularity is a drag on down-ballot races.
So, in 2022, Stacey Abrams will have to face reality because her 2018 excuse will not resonate. People are already voting in historic numbers for a midterm election. If she loses, it is because her policies and political party are not popular. And trying to twist kitchen table issues about rising prices into an argument for more abortion is a losing message. Hopefully, Abrams will take the right message away from voters from November 8. They aren’t being suppressed. They just don’t like what she is offering them
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