Stacey Abrams, who made history last year as the first Black woman to win a major party's nomination for governor, announced Tuesday morning that she won't run for the U.S. Senate in 2020. The news follows months of speculation around Abrams' next steps after narrowly losing the contentious Georgia gubernatorial race.
“I am so grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from fellow Georgians, to leaders of Congress and beyond,” Abrams said in a video posted on Twitter. “However, the fights to be waged require a deep commitment to the job, and I do not see the U.S. Senate as the best role for me in this battle for our nation’s future.” She added she would support whoever ends up challenging Republican Sen. David Perdue, a first-term incumbent.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other national Democratic leaders have aggressively courted Abrams, who has long been a political rising star, over the past few months. Besides being considered as a potential Senate candidate, Abrams was also floated as the potential running mate of former Vice President Joe Biden. (No deal was made with Biden, who announced his presidential bid last week.)
I am grateful for all the encouragement I received to run for U.S. Senate, and I’m committed to doing everything I can to help elect a Democrat to that seat next year. #gapol pic.twitter.com/5o14BqgqwO
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) April 30, 2019
As a gubernatorial candidate, Abrams brought together a diverse coalition of voters and gained national recognition for her efforts. She narrowly lost the election to now-Gov. Brian Kemp. Abrams has long said Kemp, who was Georgia's secretary of state at the time, used his role to suppress the votes of the Black community and other marginalized groups.
After the election, Abrams refused to formally concede and launched the group Fair Fight Action, focused on protecting and expanding voting rights. "Our heroine Stacey Abrams in Georgia is leading the charge for voting rights, making sure that every vote is counted around the country," former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said on a call about her new organization Supermajority on Monday.
Abrams has been open in the past about having her sights set on the Oval Office, although it's still unclear whether she will throw her hat in the ring for the 2020 election and join the most diverse cohort of presidential hopefuls in history.