Stacey Yvonne Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017.
57 Facts About Stacey Abrams
2.
Stacey Abrams was the Democratic nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, becoming the first African-American female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States.
3.
Stacey Abrams narrowly lost the election to Republican candidate Brian Kemp, but refused to concede, accusing Kemp of engaging in voter suppression as Georgia Secretary of State.
4.
In February 2019, Stacey Abrams became the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address.
5.
Stacey Abrams was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election, and lost again to Kemp, this time by a much larger margin; she conceded on the night of the election.
6.
Stacey Abrams wrote eight fiction books under the pen name Selena Montgomery before 2021.
7.
The second of six siblings, Stacey Abrams was born to Robert and Carolyn Stacey Abrams in Madison, Wisconsin, and raised in Gulfport, Mississippi where her father was employed in a shipyard and her mother was a librarian.
8.
Stacey Abrams attended Avondale High School, graduating as valedictorian in 1991.
9.
Stacey Abrams later interned at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
10.
In 2010, while a member of the Georgia General Assembly, Stacey Abrams co-founded and served as the senior vice president of NOW Corp.
11.
Stacey Abrams is CEO of Sage Works, a legal consulting firm that has represented clients including the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association.
12.
In 2002, at age 29, Stacey Abrams was appointed a deputy city attorney for the City of Atlanta.
13.
In 2006, Stacey Abrams ran for the 84th district for the Georgia House of Representatives, following JoAnn McClinton's announcement that she would not seek reelection.
14.
Stacey Abrams ran in the Democratic Party primary election against former state legislator George Maddox and political operative Dexter Porter.
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Stacey Abrams represented House District 84 beginning in the 2007 session, and beginning in the 2013 session, District 89.
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In November 2010, the Democratic caucus elected Stacey Abrams to succeed DuBose Porter as minority leader over Virgil Fludd.
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Stacey Abrams worked with Deal on criminal-justice reforms that reduced prison costs without increasing crime, and with Republicans on the state's biggest-ever public transportation funding package.
18.
On November 6,2018, Stacey Abrams lost the election by 54,723 votes.
19.
On November 16,2018, Stacey Abrams announced that she was ending her campaign.
20.
Stacey Abrams emphasized that her statement was not a concession, because "concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true, or proper", but acknowledged that she could not close the gap with Kemp to force a runoff.
21.
Since losing the election, Stacey Abrams has repeatedly said that the election was not fairly conducted and has declined to call Kemp the legitimate governor of Georgia.
22.
Kessler said that "Stacey Abrams played up claims the election was stolen until such tactics became untenable for anyone who claims to be an advocate for American democratic norms and values".
23.
On January 29,2019, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer announced that Stacey Abrams would deliver the response to the State of the Union address on February 5.
24.
Stacey Abrams was the first African-American woman to give the rebuttal to the address, as well as the first and only non-office-holding person to do so since the State of the Union responses began in 1966.
25.
Stacey Abrams was selected as one of 17 speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
26.
On December 1,2021, Stacey Abrams announced she would run again for governor of Georgia.
27.
Stacey Abrams ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on May 24,2022, and faced Georgia governor Brian Kemp in the November 8 general election.
28.
Stacey Abrams lost the November 8,2022 election to Kemp; she conceded that night.
29.
Stacey Abrams has argued that some implementations of voter ID laws disenfranchise minorities and the poor, but does not oppose voter ID laws in principle and supports voters having to verify their identities.
30.
Stacey Abrams pledged to oppose legislation similar to the religious liberty bill that Governor Deal vetoed in 2016.
31.
Stacey Abrams opposes private school vouchers, instead advocating improvements to the public education system.
32.
Stacey Abrams cited research showing that Medicaid expansion improved health care access for low-income residents and made hospitals in rural locations financially viable.
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Stacey Abrams created a plan to address Georgia's high maternal mortality rate.
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Stacey Abrams is a strong supporter of Israel and rejects "the demonization and delegitimization of Israel represented" by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which she has called "anti-Semitic".
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Outside of politics, Stacey Abrams has found success as a fiction writer.
36.
Stacey Abrams wrote her first novel during her third year at Yale Law School and published her most recent book in 2009.
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Stacey Abrams has published articles on public policy, taxation, and nonprofit organizations.
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In 2012, Abrams received the John F Kennedy New Frontier Award from the Kennedy Library and Harvard University's Institute of Politics, which honors an elected official under 40 whose work demonstrates the impact of elective public service as a way to address public challenges.
39.
Stacey Abrams was recognized as one of "12 Rising Legislators to Watch" by the same publication in 2012 and one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians" by Georgia Trend for 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 and 2017.
40.
Stacey Abrams was selected as an Aspen Rodel Fellow and a Hunt-Kean Fellow.
41.
In 2014, Stacey Abrams was named 11th most influential African American aged 25 to 45 by The Root, rising to first place in 2019.
42.
Stacey Abrams was named Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, Public Servant of the Year by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Outstanding Public Service by the Latin American Association, Champion for Georgia Cities by the Georgia Municipal Association, and Legislator of the Year by the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce.
43.
Stacey Abrams received the Georgia Legislative Service Award from the Association County Commissioners Georgia, the Democratic Legislator of the Year from the Young Democrats of Georgia and Red Clay Democrats, and an Environmental Leader Award from the Georgia Conservation Voters.
44.
Stacey Abrams received a single vote, from Kathleen Rice, in the 2019 election for Speaker of the US House.
45.
In 2019, Stacey Abrams received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, where she obtained her Master's of Public Affairs in 1998.
46.
Stacey Abrams was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2021 for her work on an election-themed special episode of Black-ish.
47.
Stacey Abrams serves on the boards of directors for Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the Center for American Progress, Atlanta Metropolitan State College Foundation, Gateway Center for the Homeless, and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education; and on the advisory boards for Literacy Action and Health Students Taking Action Together.
48.
Stacey Abrams serves on the Board of Visitors for Agnes Scott College and the University of Georgia, as well as on the board of advisors for Let America Vote.
49.
Stacey Abrams has completed seven international fellowships and traveled to "more than a dozen foreign countries" for policy work.
50.
Stacey Abrams is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and spoke at CFR's Conference on Diversity in International Affairs in 2019.
51.
Stacey Abrams has spoken at London's Chatham House, the National Security Action Forum, and a conference hosted by the Yale Kerry Initiative and Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
52.
In 2019, Stacey Abrams contributed an essay to Foreign Affairs magazine on how identity politics strengthens liberal democracy.
53.
Stacey Abrams was featured in All In: The Fight For Democracy, a documentary about voter suppression in the United States.
54.
Stacey Abrams appeared as an actor in "Coming Home", the season 4 finale of Star Trek: Discovery, as the President of United Earth.
55.
Stacey Abrams is the second of six children born to Reverend Carolyn and Reverend Robert Stacey Abrams, originally of Mississippi.
56.
Stacey Abrams's siblings include Andrea Abrams, US district judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Richard Abrams, Walter Abrams, and Jeanine Abrams McLean.
57.
Stacey Abrams was repaying the Internal Revenue Service incrementally on a payment plan after deferring her 2015 and 2016 taxes, which she stated was necessary to help with her family's medical bills.