Brian Kemp Declares Victory In Georgia’s Gubernatorial Race Against Stacey Abrams

Even as Georgia frantically tries to make sure that every vote is accounted for in the neck-and-neck gubernatorial race, Republican Brian Kemp, and current Secretary of State, though it was a good idea to declare victory on Wednesday, even as Democrat Stacey Abrams refuses to concede, insisting that there is the possibility for a runoff. According to Time, Kemp campaign adviser Ryan Mahoney told reporters that the numbers show that Abrams can’t win. “We are declaring victory,” Mahoney said. Another Kemp campaign official, Austin Chambers said, “The message here is pretty simple: This election is over, and the results are clear.” This is after a contentious election period, where Kemp, whose office oversees elections and voter registration, has faced multiple accusations of voter suppression. With reported votes coming in at more than 3.9 million, Kemp has maintained 50.3 percent of the vote. However, Stacey Abrams, who has 48.7 percent and is trailing by less than 65,000 votes at last check is keeping the faith and betting on a run off. “We are leaving all of our options on the table,” Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said, adding that those options included litigation. According to Time, Groh-Wargo believes that only about 15,000 votes stand in the way of a runoff, and has pointed to several absentee and mail-in ballots that she believes still have to be counted. In order to trigger a runoff, Kemp’s vote percentage would need to fall below 50 percent. Secretary of State’s office reported on Wednesday that less than 3,000 non-provisional votes remained to be counted statewide, and that officials have reported less than 22,000 provisional ballots across the state. The office promised to certify the final results no later than Wednesday, Nov. 14. However, Mahoney believes that those numbers make it impossible for Abrams to secure enough votes to trigger a runoff. Abrams, meanwhile, has referred to Kemp as “an architect of suppression.” An emergency lawsuit was filed late Tuesday by non-profit group Protect Democracy, which is seeking to keep Kemp from being involved in the counting of the votes, certifying any results, or any runoff or recount. One would think that given all the controversy surrounding this election, a lot of it targeted at Kemp and his office. But apparently nope. According to The Washington Post, Kemp said he would be moving forward with his transition to governor. “We’re in court this morning still dealing with a lot of these quite honestly ridiculous lawsuits,” Kemp told reporters at a news conference. “We’re going to continue to fight that. The votes are not there for her.”