Presidential Candidate Blames ‘Racial Gerrymandering’ For Stacey Abrams’ Defeat
Presidential Candidate Seth Moulton tweeted Thursday that failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was a victim of racist gerrymandering.
“Make no no mistake: the partisan gerrymandering SCOTUS just allowed is also racial gerrymandering — a modern-day Jim Crow. Just look at what happened with Stacey Abrams in Georgia.”
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Moulton was responding to a Supreme Court decision that ruled against the court adjudicating what constitutes gerrymandering.Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Moulton was responding to a Supreme Court decision that ruled against the court adjudicating what constitutes gerrymandering.
However, the term “gerrymandering,” refers to the redrawing of Congressional districts in order to make the electorate favorable to a candidate, usually the incumbent. It is not applicable to a gubernatorial race where the entire state decides the winner. (RELATED: Congressman Who Wanted To Oust Pelosi, Wants To Take On Trump In 2020)
Relevant or not, it was Moulton’s excuse for Abrams’ defeat in her 2018 race for governor of Georgia against Republican Brian Kemp, who won the election. But Abrams was reluctant to concede and months later she was still adamant that she had lost the contest because the black electorate was suppressed, despite losing by almost 55,000 votes. (RELATED: Armed With Assault Rifles, Black Panthers March For Stacey Abrams)
“If you look at my immediate reaction after the election, I refused to concede,” Abrams told The New York Times Magazine. “It was largely because I could not prove what had happened, but I knew from the calls that we got that something happened.”
Abrams has been considered as a potential running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, but her initial reaction was complete rejection. This was because she still believed that she had won the governor’s race, and she said, “I think you don’t run for second place.” Later, she suggested she might be “open” to the idea.
She also remains open to running for president, maintaining that she’s “just as capable” as anyone who is already part of the ever-expanding pack of Democratic hopefuls. Just last month, Abrams said she could “wait till the fall” and “still have a real chance to win” the Democratic presidential nomination.
