Last updated on November 22nd, 2025 at 01:56 am
STACEY ABRAMS
This Madison, Wisconsin native is the first Black woman to run for Governor. The year was 2018. The state was Georgia. The result was a loss to Republican candidate, Brian Kemp, but the end result was revenge in the form of a Democratic take-over of the Executive Branch, House and Senate in large part to the efforts of Abrams.
Were it not for the organization, Fair Fight Action, which was formed to address voter suppression, that she founded in 2018, Georgia would’ve gone to the incumbent GOP candidate. Instead, the Peachtree state became one of the pivotal victories that propelled Joe Biden to the presidency in 2020. FYI – there has still been no Black woman elected to the office of Governor.
Abrams began her career while in high school. Her innate verbal abilities were recognized, and she became a political speech writer. After law school Abrams was a tax attorney. She was appointed Deputy City Attorney for Atlanta in 2002. She served in the Georgia House of representatives from 2007-2017 and as Minority leader from 2011-2017. In 2010 she co-founded Now Corporation and Nourish, Inc. while in the Georgia General Assembly. She’s the CEO of Sage Works, a legal firm and was the first Black woman to give rebuttal to the State of the Union Address.
