Abrams supporters hopeful as race remains close in Georgia
85 views · Published 12 November 2018 · 3:11 · Indexed 4 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(7 Nov 2018) US Democrats and Republicans nationwide had their eyes trained on Georgia to see whether the emerging battleground state would elect the first black woman governor in American history or double down on the Deep South's Republican tendencies with an acolyte of US President Donald Trump. Abrams told supporters at her election night party on Tuesday that they would "have a chance to do a do-over" in her race against Republican Brian Kemp, implying a runoff. With almost 3.9 million votes counted, Kemp stood at 50.5 percent, enough for an outright victory under a quirky Georgia law requiring a majority to win a general election without a runoff. But Abrams and Kemp agree there are absentee, mail-in and provisional ballots left to be counted. The rivals differ on how much that will matter. Abrams says the number of pending ballots is enough to push Kemp's total below the 50 percent threshold, because a Libertarian candidate is taking about 1 percent of the vote. The Abrams campaign estimated Wednesday morning that she needs a net gain of about 15,000 votes to force a Dec. 4 runoff. The wild card is how many provisional ballots were cast and ultimately will be counted. Local officials around the state haven't reported those numbers. Neither the Kemp campaign nor Kemp's secretary of state office has offered detailed data, deferring instead to local authorities. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/68f0714dc0326d5b714923ebc4568f41
