“President Trump on Wednesday called for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to resign, escalating his criticism of a fellow Republican who has refused to intervene in the state’s presidential election or embrace Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud,” the Washington Post reports.
Trumpworld Wants to Primary Brian Kemp
“Bristling at his defeat in Georgia, President Trump increasingly believes that Gov. Brian Kemp has not done enough to deliver him a victory or challenge the state’s election results. Now, sources close to the president—and Republicans in Georgia—say it is a foregone conclusion that Trump will help stand up a primary challenger to Kemp when the Republican is up for re-election in 2022,” the Daily Beast reports.
Said one Trump adviser: “It’s a fait accompli.”
Trump Floats Primary Challenge to Brian Kemp
President Trump, while speaking at a campaign rally to gin up support for Georgia Republican senators on Saturday, floated a potential 2022 gubernatorial run by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) to challenge Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I want to thank Doug Collins. Thank you, Doug. What a job he does. Doug, you want to run for governor in two years?”
Stacy Abrams Likely to Run for Governor Again
“Stacey Abrams’ political future is the subject of intense speculation after she helped turn Georgia blue for President-elect Joe Biden,” the Daily Beast reports.
“With more work on the horizon, three Democrats with knowledge of the former state house minority leader’s aspirations tell the Daily Beast that they expect her to run for governor in 2022.”
Kemp Misled Voters About Security Breakdown
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Brian Kemp and his aides publicly accused the Democratic Party of Georgia of trying to hack into the voter database in a failed attempt to steal the election. The announcement added last-minute drama to an already contentious campaign. More important, it also pre-empted scrutiny of the secretary of state’s own missteps while initiating a highly unusual criminal investigation into his political rivals.”
“But no evidence supported the allegations against the Democrats at the time, and none has emerged in the six weeks since, the Journal-Constitution found. It appears unlikely that any crime occurred. … That examination suggests Kemp and his aides used his elected office to protect his political campaign from a potentially devastating embarrassment.”
Stacey Abrams Eyes Run for Senate or Governor
“Stacey Abrams said Monday that she is considering running for a Georgia Senate seat in 2020 or governor again in 2022,” Politico reports.
“Abrams’ drew national attention in her bid to become the first black woman governor in the United States, and the progressive political action committee Democracy for America included her in a presidential poll it opened online last week.”
Voter Repression Isn’t the Same as Stealing an Election
Rick Hasen: “Democrats should stop with the rhetoric that the race was ‘stolen’… First, rhetoric about stolen elections feeds a growing cycle of mistrust and delegitimization of the election process… Saying Kemp tried to suppress Democratic votes and saying the election was stolen are two different things, and making charges of a stolen election when it cannot be proved undermines Democrats’ complaints about suppressive tactics.”
“Rather than questioning the election’s legitimacy or making uprovable claims of stolen elections, Democrats should focus their efforts into doing whatever is possible to prevent voter suppression and incompetence in the upcoming 2020 elections.”
Abrams Ends Her Campaign But Won’t Concede
Stacey Abrams (D) ended her run for Georgia governor as the state prepared to certify the election, but she said she would not concede the contest to Brian Kemp (R), the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Saying the law “allows no further viable remedy” for her bid for governor against Kemp, Abrams announced a new voting rights group that will file “major” litigation against the state over electoral issues.
Abrams laced her speech with critiques of Kemp, a former secretary of state who she said was “deliberate and intentional in his actions” to suppress the vote.
Abrams Considers Unprecedented Legal Challenge
“Stacey Abrams’ campaign and legal team is preparing an unprecedented legal challenge in the unresolved Georgia governor’s race that could leave the state’s Supreme Court deciding whether to force another round of voting,” the AP reports.
“The Democrat’s longshot strategy relies on a statute that’s never been used in such a high-stakes contest. It is being discussed as Georgia elections officials appear to be on the cusp of certifying Republican Brian Kemp as the winner of a bitterly fought campaign that’s been marred by charges of electoral malfeasance.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Abrams is fast running out of options to close a deficit in the race for Georgia governor.”
Judge Orders More Georgia Ballots Counted
“A federal judge has ruled that Georgia counties must count absentee ballots even if the voter’s date of birth is incorrect or missing, and he is preventing the state from finalizing election results until that happens,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“Although U.S. District Judge Steve Jones agreed with the Georgia Democratic Party and Stacey Abrams’ campaign on this issue, he ruled against them on two others. He will not require counties to accept absentee ballots with incorrect residence addresses or to accept provisional ballots cast by people who attempted to vote in a different county than where they are registered to vote.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“If Stacey Abrams doesn’t win in Georgia, they stole it. It’s clear.”
— Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), quoted by The Hill, on Georgia’s race for governor.
Clinton Questions Fairness of Georgia’s Election
Hillary Clinton said that Stacey Abrams (D) would already have won Georgia’s governor race if there had been a fair election, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
Said Clinton: “If she had a fair election, she already would have won.”
Georgia Officials Ordered to Count Provisional Ballots
“A federal judge on Monday ordered election officials to review thousands of provisional ballots that haven’t been counted in Georgia’s close election for governor,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“The court decision comes as votes are still being counted in the race for governor between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp. Abrams trails Kemp and would need to gain more than 20,000 additional votes to force a runoff election.”
Georgia Officials Ordered to Count All Absentee Votes
Georgia Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden told county election officials to count absentee ballots even if they lack a voter’s date of birth, as long as the voter’s identity can be verified, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Brian Kemp (R) holds the lead over Stacey Abrams (D) in the race to become Georgia’s governor. Abrams would need to gain more than 20,000 votes to force the race into a runoff.
Close Georgia Race Highlights Voting Restrictions
Associated Press: “He aggressively deleted inactive voters from registration rolls, enforced an “exact match” policy that could have prevented thousands of Georgians from registering to vote and launched an investigation that disrupted a major voter registration drive.”
“Now Republican Brian Kemp is declaring himself the victor in Georgia’s race for governor, a race so close that even marginal differences in voting and turnout could make the difference in determining whether the race goes to a runoff.”
Abrams Presses for a Runoff In Georgia
Stacey Abrams is not conceding Georgia’s governor’s race, “hopeful that a trove of provisional ballots and other votes not yet recorded could be enough to force the tight race into a runoff,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“Her campaign unveiled a litigation team poised to take the fight to the courts as it continues a hunt for an additional 25,632 Abrams votes that will push the race into runoff territory.”
Brian Kemp’s (R) office “has said there are roughly 25,000 outstanding provisional and absentee ballots — making his lead virtually insurmountable — and on Thursday he released for the first time a detailed accounting of where each was cast.”
Kemp Resigns as Georgia Secretary of State
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp (R) says he is resigning as secretary of state, the AP reports.
Kemp declared victory in the governor’s race because he claims it isn’t possible for opponent Stacey Abrams (D) to pick up enough votes to force a runoff. But Abrams says there are still enough uncounted votes to force a Dec. 4 runoff and that they need to pick up about 15,000 votes to do so.
Stacey Abrams Still Hoping for a Runoff
“Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, continued Wednesday to hold out hope for a runoff with Republican Brian Kemp, who saw his lead shrink a bit overnight, but was still ahead with more than 50 percent of the vote,” the Washington Post reports.
“Kemp was just over 15,000 votes above the threshold to avoid a runoff, said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams’s campaign manager, who estimates there are at least that many outstanding mail-in ballots that have yet to be counted in Democratic-leaning counties.”
