🔰Stacey Abrams: Georgia Governor's Race Is About 'Defending Democracy'

Back in 2018, it feels like forever ago now, right? Stacey Abrams narrowly lost her bid to become the governor of the state of Georgia. Now, four years later, she's back and back at it as she looks to become the state's first female and first black governor. But in that time, major changes have happened everywhere, especially in Georgia, in how voting and elections are run, mainly as a direct result of the big lie started by the twice-impeached disgraced ex-president, something we've covered extensively on this program. But you remember, it all started in Georgia. In Georgia, that state legislature passed SB 202 last year, broadly restricted voting access across the state. All in all, at least 19 states have now passed 34 restrictive voting laws, all fueled by the big lie. That's according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. With six months to go to the general election, the big lie continues to be part of the battleground in Georgia as both Republican candidates, Abrams' 2018 opponent, the current governor, Brian Kemp, and former senator, David Perdue, continue to duke it out in a race where the shadow of the ex-president and his lies loom large. Joining us now is Stacey Abrams, the founder of Fair Fight and a Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia. It's so nice to see you. Thank you for being our guest. Thank you for having me. Tell me the state of the race, how you see it. We are getting to the end of the primary, although I haven't had a primary opponent on my side of the aisle. I'm the target of both David Perdue and Brian Kemp in their ads and in their invective. But what we are doing is focusing on building the strongest, deepest and far-reaching campaign Georgia has ever seen. And I think we're well on our way. So Greg Blustein, a reporter in your state, and Nick Corsaniti, a reporter at The New York Times, have tried to put in numbers how many voters will have a harder time voting in the first election after the voting restriction law. I ask every one of them the question every time they're on, was there any fraud in Georgia in 2020? They always tell me no. All the same, voting restrictions are put in place. Have you assessed and recalibrated how you campaign in the wake of that law? And what does that look like? Our responsibility is to absolutely acknowledge the changes that were put in place by Brian Kemp and the Republican legislature in response to Democrats winning the presidency and winning the U.S. Senate. There was no fraud. There was no lack of integrity in the process. There was simply a different victor than they intended. And they had inconvenient voters of color, disabled voters, young voters who showed up, rural voters who changed the outcome. And their response was to put new barriers in place. This May 24th primary will be the first time that we see a statewide impact, but we already have seen it. Voters who were used to being able to go online to ask for their absentee ballot now have to download the ballot, fill it out by hand, upload it, and return it. And that's if they're lucky enough to have access to a computer. Otherwise, they've got to call county offices and hope that they get the ballot in time. The rules say you can't request a ballot more than 78 days before the election, not fewer than 11 days. And if anyone knows what those dates actually are, congratulations to you. We know that we're going to see long lines. We're going to see hot summer weather in the state of Georgia. And it's going to be illegal to offer water or food or any support to anyone who's trying to cast their ballot. And this was intentional. This was designed to undermine our elections because they didn't like who voted. And this notion that it is a response to any infirmities in the 2020 election is simply a lie. And that, unfortunately, is what we are working against. So we are building a campaign that's going to map, unfortunately, just how vile the applications of this law are. But we're also going to educate voters and make certain that the fundamental attempt of voter suppression is not only to block you from voting, but to convince you it's not worth trying. And we're going to do everything in our power to convince voters that the response to voter suppression is extraordinary voter turnout, both in the primary and the general election. And all of that speaks to the hurdles that were put in place. Do you have concerns on the nullification side that the laws have been changed in a lot of places about who does the counting? I'm less concerned for the 2022 election, although it depends on how narrow the results are. But I am concerned about Georgia's role in the 2024 presidential election. We are one of the states where, if these laws, as they stand, are administered by the current candidates who espouse the big lie, we could very well risk Georgia being one of the states that invalidates or nullifies the outcome of an election. And that should terrify everyone. Georgia's election is not just about Georgia. Our election is about whether we are protecting and defending democracy or whether we're going to succumb to the lies, the misinformation and the intentional distraction that has been the last two years. Stacey, what other issues are you hearing from voters as you campaign around the state? Well, today I'm down in Brunswick, Georgia, St. Simon, Savannah, the coastal Georgia area. There are deep concerns about Medicaid expansion and health care. We have seen a recent hospital shutdown. It's going to happen in a couple of days in the state of Georgia because we refuse to accept Medicaid expansion dollars that could help half a million people with access to health care. But it would also bring $3.5 billion of taxpayer money back to our state and create 64000 jobs. People are concerned about housing prices, both affordability and inventory. And they're deeply concerned about children. Yesterday, the governor signed a raft of bills that are designed to lie to our children. My parents raised me to believe that a lie of omission is a lie nonetheless. And any time we start to tell children we're going to ban books that they can't read and we're going to change the history that they learn, then we are not doing our job. But what is most cruel and what Brian Kim has perfected is arm's length cruelty is that he has set up a commission that is designed to tell transgender children they cannot compete with their friends. He is doing everything he can to make our most fragile and vulnerable children feel even more lost at a time where we should be wrapping them in our arms and telling them that they belong. And so my deep concern and the concern of so many that I'm meeting is that they want a governor who actually believes in them, who doesn't see cruelty as a method of governing. And my mission is to be the governor who actually runs and serves all of Georgia, one Georgia. How you're close to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. They won the state of Georgia. What are the pieces of his agenda that are most popular there? What sorts of things, you know, where is his message most resonant around infrastructure or can you tell us what issues are sort of resonating most with Georgians? For 20 years, Georgians have been beating our heads against the wall, demanding of our leadership, Republican leadership to do something about broadband. Forty percent of Georgians, roughly 40 percent, don't have access either to reliable broadband or they can't afford it. And because of the infrastructure bill, because of President Biden, but also because of Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, millions of dollars are pouring into the state of Georgia to finally make some advances on broadband. We need resources for infrastructure building. And because we have two U.S. senators, especially Senator Raphael Warnock, who's up for reelection, we know that we have a partner working with our president to bring resources to the state of Georgia. We know that the conversations that were had around voting rights, even though it didn't yield the legislative changes we wanted, it lifted up an issue that for too long has been silenced. And we know that President Biden is a popular figure, not by number, but by intention, what he does for Georgia. The monies that are being poured in are being used. In fact, Brian Kemp loves him. He seems to be the most popular person because Brian Kemp is going around the state spending money that came from Joe Biden and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. He's claiming credit for it. But we know that those are resources that are coming to our state that are funding our programs because of President Joe Biden and because of the programs that he championed as our president.