The “One Georgia Tour,” which will take Abrams to a handful of cities throughout the state, also commenced the night before she is set to launch her first television advertising campaign, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking service. Less than eight months until Georgia voters select their next governor in the general election, it’s another indication Abrams will take advantage of a so-far-unopposed primary while Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue battle it out leading up to May 24.
Based on her kick-off event, it appears Abrams will use the tour to home in on her calls to boost education funding, pass new voting rights protections and expand Medicaid. She spent the most time during Monday’s speech talking about health care, which will likely top Abrams’ campaign priorities, just as it did in 2018.
She told a story about her parents, who moved in with her during the pandemic. Abrams’ father, who had prostate cancer 15 years ago, had to have a surgery recently, and her mother noticed something felt off about his skin. He was on the verge of sepsis.
“You see, I was able to pick up the phone and call. I was able to get him to a world-class hospital,” Abrams said. “He was able to get the care he needed, and when he ended up being back in the hospital for eight days, he had the support he needed. It makes no sense that in the state of Georgia, if he’d been a few miles away or a few counties away, my father would not be with us here today. That is a solvable problem. And by God, as governor of Georgia, I am going to fix it.”
The 48-year-old Abrams, a former state lawmaker, had little name recognition outside of the state before her 2018 run for governor against Kemp, where she sought to become the state’s first Black and first female governor. Now the top Democratic voice, known for her voting rights work and credited with turning Georgia blue in 2020, could potentially be in a rematch with Kemp in her run for the governor’s mansion.
She touted this work and what she said it resulted in today — the election of President Joe Biden and Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
“Those dollars that are coming to Georgia, that are going to be infrastructure dollars and health care dollars and education dollars and future-making dollars, are the credit of Democrats who voted for our future, not Republicans who refuse to see the future and believe in us,” Abrams said.
Abrams is benefiting from the Kemp-Perdue face-off, at least for now, as former President Donald Trump has created an internal GOP rift by backing Perdue. Abrams, meanwhile, doesn’t mention Trump’s name.
That doesn’t mean the Georgia Democrat isn’t facing her own challenges in this period of the campaign. Her rise to stardom has made her a GOP target the past four years, from television ads to campaign rallies.
But Abrams, who officially qualified to run for governor last week, suggested on Monday that these past four years had fueled her — and that she didn’t need a title to work for Georgians.
“Four years ago, when I applied for this job of governor, I had my application declined,” Abrams said. “It’s OK. I’ve had four years to work on things.”