On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams announced her bid for governor, setting up a possible rematch with Brian Kemp. 

Her campaign carries historic significance: If she is successful, she would become the first Black governor of Georgia and the first Black woman to serve as governor of any state.

Abrams ran for governor in 2018 and lost to Kemp by 1.4 points, but her campaign catapulted her into the upper ranks of the Democratic Party. 

Thanks to President Joe Biden’s electoral victory in Georgia last year and the state being represented by two Democratic senators, Democrats believe it is now more possible for a Democrat to become the state’s top lawmaker. 

The voting rights activist and former top Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives tweeted her announcement, saying she is running “because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power.” 

“No matter where we come from in Georgia, or how long we've been here. We believe in this place and our folks who deserve to be seen and heard and have a voice because in the end, we are one Georgia,” Abrams said in her campaign video.

Abrams highlighted the work she’s accomplished since leaving the campaign trail in her announcement video that shows Abrams at community events and features various scenes of Georgians at work. 

"I've worked to do my part to help families make it through paying off medical debt for 68,000 Georgians expanding access to vaccines, bringing supplies to overwhelmed food banks, lending a hand across our state, especially in rural Georgia," Abrams said. 

The video was a reminder to voters of all the advocacy work she’s done since her first gubernatorial campaign, from helping Americans pay off more than $1 million in medical debt to raising millions to help finance small businesses. 

"If our Georgia is going to move to its next and greatest chapter, we're going to need leadership. Leadership that knows how to do the job. Leadership that doesn't take credit without also taking responsibility. Leadership that understands the true pain folks are feeling and has real plans,” she said. 

At the end of 2013, Abrams founded the nonprofit voting rights group, New Georgia Project, which had registered more than 200,000 voters in the run-up to her candidacy for governor in 2018. 

Before the 2020 election, Abrams used both the New Georgia Project and her second organization, Fair Fight Action, to expand registration efforts. 

By last year’s election, the groups said they had registered about 800,000 voters in the states and Democrats credited them with flipping the state blue at a presidential level. 

The campaign will most likely be supported by Fair Fight. The group reported that it raised about $51 million last year, according to tax records obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Kemp said in a statement on Wednesday that Abrams’ “far-left agenda of open borders, gun confiscation, high taxes, and anti-law enforcement policies” don’t reflect Georgians, and that next year’s election will be a fight for the “soul of the state.” 

"I’m in the fight against Stacey Abrams, the failed Biden agenda, and their woke allies to keep Georgia the best place to live, work, and raise a family,” Kemp said.