Stacey Abrams could become America’s first black female governor

AP | Georgia Democrats gave Atlanta lawyer Stacey Abrams a chance to become the first black female governor in American history on a primary night that ended well for several women seeking office.

Abrams, 44, set new historical marks with a primary victory Tuesday that made her the first black nominee and first female nominee for governor of either majority party in Georgia.

Democrats were set to nominate a woman for governor either way, with Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans battling it out in a pitched primary fight.

But Abrams stood out in her bid to be the nation’s first African American woman to lead a state. The former state General Assembly leader was insistent that the way to dent Republican domination in Georgia was not by cautiously pursuing the older white voters who had abandoned Democrats over recent decades. Rather, she wanted to widen the electorate by attracting young voters and non-whites who hadn’t been casting ballots.

She will test her theory as the underdog against either Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle or Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who will meet in Republican runoff in July.

Abrams won election to the Georgia House in 2006 and rose to become the first black woman to serve as the chamber’s Democratic leader. She resigned her seat last summer to focus on the gubernatorial campaign.

Georgia hasn’t elected a Democrat governor since 1998. And no Democrat seeking that office in the past 20 years, including former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson in 2014, has gotten more than 46 percent of the vote.