President Joe Biden plans to meet with voting rights activist Stacey Abrams when he travels to the Peach State on Friday, the White House confirmed. Abrams has been widely credited with not only helping deliver the state to Biden, but also flipping the state to Democratic control in the U.S. Senate.
By doing both, Abrams and Georgia Democrats gave Biden enough control in Congress to help pass his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill along party lines, the first step in an ambitious agenda to battle the twin health and economic crises caused by the pandemic.
Biden’s visit to Atlanta was originally meant to tout that accomplishment but it has been recast after spa shootings in the area this week left eight dead and fueled fear of a rise in violence against Asian Americans.
The meeting between Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Abrams comes as Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly continue to push new restrictions on voting after they were left stunned by the defeat of then-President Donald Trump along with Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The Biden administration is planning a push in the coming weeks to defend access to the ballot that has come under threat in several states.
As for Abrams, she’s positioned to make another run for the Governor’s mansion against her opponent in 2018, Governor Brian Kemp. Abrams’ success in helping Democrats flip Georgia for Biden and take both Senate seats gives her plenty of momentum heading into a possible 2022 run. She would likely face little to no Democratic opposition and that would allow her to put all her time into defeating Governor Kemp.
Abrams’ mission was to tell the mostly white, older power brokers in Georgia Democratic politics that they were on a fool’s errand trying to convince older white voters to return to the party after decades of a Southern shift toward Republicans.
The path to closing the gap with Republicans, she insisted, was drawing new voters to the polls. In her vision, that would include everyone from transplants to metro Atlanta to older Black voters who just didn’t vote and younger white Georgia natives who simply aren’t as conservative as their parents and grandparents. Former President Barack Obama called Georgia “a testament to the tireless and often unheralded work of grassroots organizing” and credited Abrams with “resilient, visionary leadership.”
A Friday evening rally to celebrate the passage of the COVID relief bill has been postponed in the wake of the shootings, the White House said. Biden and Harris will instead meet with local Asian American leaders to discuss the rise in violence and then visit the Centers for Disease Control, which is at the forefront of the nation’s response to the pandemic.
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