Democrat Stacey Abrams, who lost the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election to Republican Brian Kemp, said in an interview released Friday that she has a "plan" to be president of the United States by 2040.
In the FiveThirtyEight interview, part of a series of stories about women running for office, Abrams discusses how race and gender played a role in her failed run for governor and the rumors that she could be a vice presidential candidate. But it was her comments about an even higher office that grabbed the most attention.
This July 22, 2019, file photo shows former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams addressing the 110th NAACP National Convention, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
"Do you think the country will elect a woman president in the next 20 years?" asked reporter Clare Malone.
"Yes, absolutely," Abrams replied flatly.
"Do you think it will elect a black woman?" Malone asked.
"Yes, absolutely," Abrams said.
"Do you think they'll elect you?"
"Yes, I do. That's my plan. And I'm very pragmatic," Abrams replied as Malone chuckled.
Abrams has never held an office higher than a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, although she did spend several years as a member of the Democratic leadership of that body. Abrams gained national fame for her contentious election against Kemp in 2018 — a race that was seen as a potential bellwether for Republicans in right-leaning states nationwide during what was a wave election year for Democrats.
In this Nov. 6, 2018 file photo, former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks to supporters in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)
She gained even further notoriety for refusing to concede the race after she lost, questioning the legitimacy of the result.
"Despite the final tally and the inauguration [of Gov. Brian Kemp] and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have a very affirmative statement to make: We won," she told the crowd at the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network last April.
Abrams and Democrats accused Kemp, the then-Secretary of State, of voter suppression for purging inactive voter registrations from voter rolls. Kemp responded that his office "conduct[s] regular list maintenance of voter rolls to ensure election integrity," as required by federal and state law.
The former lawmaker has still not conceded the election and has indicated that she does not plan to.
"We don’t have to concede elections anymore, because when we concede, we are condoning systems that are used to oppress us," she said last May according to the Texas Tribune.
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