Black women continue to make history in this year’s elections and tonight was no different. Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House minority leader, won the Democratic primary.
SEE ALSO: Here Are The 2018 Primary Election Races To Watch
Abrams, 44, squared off against Stacey Evans, who is white, in the Democratic primary and became the first Black woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the United States. The New York Times reports she is also “Georgia’s first Black nominee for governor.” Georgia has not had a Black governor since Reconstruction.
See what Abrams posted on Twitter a couple hours ago:
Stacey Abrams✔@staceyabrams
You did it.#TeamAbrams just won our primary election, and this victory belongs to you.https://www.facebook.com/stacey.abrams.77/photos/a.221341868058416.1073741828.214821605377109/789266577932606/ … #GAGov #gapol
She also wrote on Facebook, “Tonight, communities that are so often overlooked – whose values are never voiced – stood with us to say: Ours is the Georgia of tomorrow. A state where diversity is a strength. A state where progress is more than possible. A state where everyone has the freedom and opportunity to thrive. A state where equal opportunity is our truth, not their buzzwords.”
It will be a hard fight to win against a Georgia Republican in the general election, but never doubt the power of the Black female vote, which took down Roy Moore in Alabama.
Lucia Kay McBath, the mother of 17-year-old Jordan Davis who was shot by a white man in 2012, also ran in the Democratic primary for Georgia’s 6th district. She was the only Black woman on the ballot, in an area that is 70 percent white, and while she received more votes than her opponent Kevin Abel, she will advance to a runoff in nine weeks.
Nonetheless, Abrams’ win proves not only that Black women can help everyone else win elections, but they can win elections as well.
