All eyes are on Georgia. 

In the days leading up to the 2022 Midterm Elections, the gubernatorial contest in the Peach State is one of the most closely watched races in the nation. Early polling in Georgia has been consistent, placing Governor Brian Kemp ahead at the start of early voting and in the run up to Election Day. But that’s not stopping Stacey Abrams from drilling her message home: Brian Kemp doesn’t care about Georgia.  

“After four years of a governor who either doesn’t care or won’t help many of us, who attacks our freedoms rather than protecting them, I am ready to work for the people of Georgia and get the job done. It’s what the governor is supposed to do,” Abrams said in an email following the Abrams-Kemp debate on Monday night. 

The recognized Democrat has been highly critical of Kemp’s decision to stockpile resources, as the people of Georgia grapple to regain their footing following the 2020 economic downturn and in the midst of inflation.  “Across Georgia, some are doing well,” Abrams acknowledges, “but too many families are afraid of rising costs, gun violence and the loss of our civil liberties.”

With a $6 billion-plus surplus, Abrams is adamant that the money accumulated from “hardworking Georgians” should be spent on generational investments that include education, housing and health care—something she shared with EBONY in a recent interview. “We're about to have another hospital shut down which brings us to a total of six hospitals that have been shut down in the state of Georgia under Governor Kemp,” Abrams lamented at the time.

Shutdowns have come as a result of Kemp’s refusal to extend Medicaid, which, as Abrams points out, disproportionately harms Black people in the state of Georgia. “We're about to lose a level one trauma center in the heart of Atlanta, and hundreds of Black workers, doctors, nurses, are going to lose their job two weeks before Christmas, because the governor refuses to bring home $3.5 billion in federal money that we've already paid into the system,” Abrams argues. “And so what I'm hearing throughout the state is that people want a governor who sees them, and who's willing to invest in them. They know we've got this $6 billion surplus.”

Abrams’ dissapointment is deepened by her belief that Kemp’s plans for the surplus involve handouts for the wealthiest Georgians while refusing to pay teachers a living wage, invest in Black businesses and address a housing crisis where an increasing number of Black families across the state are being evicted and dispossessed. 

“That is why this campaign is so important,” Abrams shares. “It is my opportunity to remind folks that what we did in 2020 and 2021 we can do again.” The fierce competitor says her message to Georgians boils down to one simple pledge: I’ll put more money in Georgians’ pockets, drive more opportunity into our businesses and communities, and bring more safety and freedom to our lives.