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Kemp and Abrams at Standoff in Georgia Governor’s Race Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp in Standoff in Georgia Governor’s Race
(about 2 hours later)
ATLANTA — Democrats and Republicans entered another bitter phase of the Georgia governor’s race early Wednesday — a standoff — with no announced winner and county elections officials scrambling to tally absentee ballots. ATLANTA — The outcome of Georgia’s acrimonious campaign for governor remained up in the air on Wednesday, after the counting of more than 3.9 million votes failed to show clearly whether Brian Kemp had defeated Stacey Abrams or whether a runoff would be required.
Unofficial returns gave Brian Kemp, the Republican nominee and Georgia’s secretary of state, a lead of about 95,000 votes over Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate, with 99 percent of the state’s precincts reporting at about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. At midday, with local election workers in some counties still tabulating tens of thousands of remaining absentee ballots, Mr. Kemp, the Republican nominee and Georgia’s secretary of state, held a lead of about 66,000 votes over Ms. Abrams, the Democrat who is bidding to become the first black woman elected governor of any American state.
But news organizations, defying pressure from Republicans, did not immediately project Mr. Kemp as the winner, and Ms. Abrams would not concede. A runoff remained a possibility, and threatened to intensify the political turmoil that has gripped Georgia. Because many of the remaining ballots were cast in heavily Democratic counties, Ms. Abrams hopes that they will narrow Mr. Kemp’s lead just enough to deprive him of an outright majority and compel a runoff.
“I want to say this: If I wasn’t your first choice, or if you made no choice at all, you’re going to have a chance to do a do-over,” Ms. Abrams said at the Atlanta hotel where her supporters had gathered to watch election returns. “I want to say this: If I wasn’t your first choice, or if you made no choice at all, you’re going to have a chance to do a do-over,” Ms. Abrams said early Wednesday at the Atlanta hotel where her supporters had gathered to watch election returns.
Republicans have all but declared that Mr. Kemp will be Georgia’s 83rd governor, even if Mr. Kemp himself has stopped just short of claiming victory.
“There are votes left to count, but we have a very strong lead,” Mr. Kemp said at about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. “Folks, make no mistake: The math is on our side to win this election.”
[See the results for the Georgia governor’s race and for other states’ elections for governor.][See the results for the Georgia governor’s race and for other states’ elections for governor.]
Republican officials argued that Ms. Abrams had no viable path to a victory that would make her the first black woman elected as governor in any state. Throughout the night in Athens, Ga., Mr. Kemp’s allies stood on the stage and confidently predicted that he, not Ms. Abrams, would move into the Governor’s Mansion in January. The chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, John Watson, left no doubt in his own assessment. “We have the votes, and the next governor of Georgia is going to be Brian Kemp,” he said.
“There are votes left to count, but we have a very strong lead,” Mr. Kemp said when he spoke at about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. “Folks, make no mistake: The math is on our side to win this election.” But Georgia’s Democrats said they believed there were still large troves of outstanding ballots in the Atlanta-area counties where Ms. Abrams held an edge, and that counting them will yield a net gain of about 15,000 votes for Ms. Abrams, enough to require a runoff. A Libertarian candidate, Ted Metz, was drawing nearly 1 percent of the vote early Wednesday.
Although Mr. Kemp stopped just short of declaring victory, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, John Watson, left no doubt in his own assessment. “We have the votes, and the next governor of Georgia is going to be Brian Kemp,” he said. “We are committed, and remain committed, to making sure every vote is counted,” Lauren Groh-Wargo, Ms. Abrams’s campaign manager, told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday morning.
But with tens of thousands of absentee ballots outstanding and officials still counting votes that were cast on Election Day, especially in the Atlanta-area counties where Ms. Abrams held an edge, Democrats insisted that their nominee could make up enough of the deficit to keep Mr. Kemp from immediate victory. The Abrams campaign also complained that there had been “significant irregularities” in elections procedures, and faulted Mr. Kemp for overseeing an election in which he was a candidate.
Her best hope seemed to be to whittle down Mr. Kemp’s lead and keep his vote total just shy of a majority, forcing a Dec. 4 runoff. A Libertarian candidate, Ted Metz, was drawing nearly 1 percent of the vote early Wednesday. “The onus is on our campaign to fight for fairness, for a fair election,” Ms. Groh-Wargo said.
“We believe — we do not know — this is headed for a runoff,” Ms. Abrams’s campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, said. “So it’s going to still be a long night. This is not ending soon, and we’re unlikely to have anything definitive to say until the morning.” Elections officials in Georgia’s 159 counties were busy on Wednesday tallying votes, with final certified results not expected for several days. In Gwinnett County in the Atlanta suburbs, a former Republican stronghold now increasingly friendly for Democrats, officials counted more than 19,000 absentee ballots on Wednesday morning.
A runoff would extend one of the nation’s most contentious governor’s races and deepen public debate over Mr. Kemp’s decision to remain the secretary of state, a post that allowed him to both oversee and compete in the election. If a runoff is required, it will only intensify a race that was already among the nation’s most contentious — not least because of Mr. Kemp’s decision to remain secretary of state, and thus Georgia’s chief elections officer, while he ran for governor.
Democrats have been demanding Mr. Kemp’s resignation for weeks and have sharply criticized his record on voting issues in the state. Mr. Kemp, who has called accusations that he encouraged voter suppression a “farce,” oversaw legal purges of voter rolls and embraced a rigorous “exact match” approach to processing voter registrations. Democrats have been demanding Mr. Kemp’s resignation for weeks, and have sharply criticized his record on voting issues in the state. Mr. Kemp, who has called accusations that he encouraged voter suppression a “farce,” oversaw legal purges of voter rolls and embraced a rigorous “exact match” approach to processing voter registrations, among other steps that have drawn criticism.
The debate over Mr. Kemp’s work as secretary of state sharpened on Sunday, when his office announced that it had opened an inquiry into the Democratic Party of Georgia for what state officials said was an attempted hack of the voter registration system. Mr. Kemp’s office provided little information about its allegations, which sparked an inquiry by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Democrats assailed the announcement as a political stunt. The argument over Mr. Kemp’s role sharpened on Sunday, when his office announced that it had opened an inquiry into the Democratic Party of Georgia for what state officials said was an attempted hacking of the voter registration system. Mr. Kemp’s office provided little information about its allegations, which sparked an inquiry by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Democrats assailed the announcement as a political stunt.
The inquiry was but the latest twist in the most expensive governor’s race in state history, a contest that pitted Mr. Kemp’s hard-line conservative values, particularly on immigration, against Ms. Abrams’s more liberal platform, which was built around ideas like Medicaid expansion. The race — the most expensive for governor in state history — pitted Mr. Kemp’s hard-line conservative stances, particularly on immigration, against Ms. Abrams’s more liberal platform, which was built around ideas like Medicaid expansion. Almost throughout, opinion polls predicted a close race.
Polls showed the contest to be among the nation’s most competitive governor’s races, and about 2.1 million people voted early. Both candidates relied on enormous campaign treasuries — each raised at least $20 million — and extensive get-out-the-vote efforts. President Trump, whose support helped Mr. Kemp capture the Republican nomination in July, traveled to the state on Sunday to campaign with Mr. Kemp, and former President Barack Obama recently visited Atlanta for a rally with Ms. Abrams.
Both candidates relied on enormous campaign treasuries — each raised at least $20 million — and extensive get-out-the-vote efforts. President Trump, whose support helped Mr. Kemp to capture the Republican nomination in July, traveled to the state on Sunday to campaign with Mr. Kemp, and former President Barack Obama recently visited Atlanta for a rally with Ms. Abrams. But Democrats, as confident as they were in how the state’s shifting demographics would work to their benefit, knew they faced a challenge: Georgia has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
But Democrats, confident as they were in how the state’s shifting demographics would work to their benefit, knew they faced a challenge: Georgia has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998. As the votes were tabulated, it appeared that Ms. Abrams had come far closer to winning than other recent Democratic candidates. It just was not clear whether that would be enough.
By Wednesday morning, it appeared that Ms. Abrams had come far closer to winning than other recent Democratic candidates. It just was not clear whether even that would be enough.