ATLANTA — One of the state's most notable Democrats is reflecting on Georgia's role in the latest election and how President-elect Joe Biden continues to widen his lead as votes continue to be counted.
Long before Biden pulled ahead of President Donald Trump in Georgia’s presidential race, Abrams believed Georgia’s Republican stronghold would flip blue.
"What we did was say out loud what everyone knew. For Georgia to flip we had to address the issues of voter suppression and we had to have substantial investment in turning out our voters," Abrams said to 11Alive Wednesday in a one-on-one interview with Natisha Lance. "We saw both of those things happen."
Abrams said she believes some of the success came from her playbook - a guide based on the inroads she made during her 2018 gubernatorial race against Brian Kemp. Abrams lost the election, but her work didn't stop. She helped launched Fair Fight, a voting rights organization. She's one of the voices who has been pushing people to register to vote and cast their ballots in elections.
"Fair Fight's work, but also the work of many other organizations, helped to mitigate the effect of voter suppression in Georgia, and Fair Fight, as well as a number of other organizations, did the hard work of turning out voters," she said.
She also talked with 11Alive about the recount. Georgia's Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, announced Wednesday the state will conduct a full, hand recount of the state's presidential votes as a means of auditing the state's election process.
Abrams doesn't believe the outcome - with Joe Biden ahead of President Trump - will change once the recount is finished.
"Joe Biden won the state of Georgia," she said. "Georgia voters have spoken, and because we got to count every vote. I believe we should follow the law and follow the processes, but the reality is not going to change."
Though the presidential election will likely be put to rest soon in Georgia, Abrams is now turning her attention to the two Senate races that will go toward a runoff on Jan. 5. Democrat Raphael Warnock will go against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and Democrat Jon Ossoff will face Republican Sen. David Perdue.
She said they are working to educate voters to make certain they understand what’s at stake and how they can vote, and let them know they still have time to register, if needed.
With that being her focus, Abrams did not give any energy to any speculation that she could be tapped to be a part of the Biden-Harris administration. In fact. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked her followers on Twitter who that they thought would be a part of a "dream cabinet." Some people said Stacey Abrams.
"My focus right now is on delivering two U.S. Senate seats, making sure Georgia continues to lift this county," Abrams said.
Already, Fair fight has raised more than $7 million for Ossoff and Warnock.
"I think if 2020 has taught us anything, it is we don’t know how much things will cost," she said. "Our responsibility is to raise the money necessary to reach every voter who is eligible to vote to ensure that they have full access to the right to vote."