Stacey Abrams considers 3rd run for Georgia governor despite back-to-back defeats

Democrat Stacey Abrams is seriously considering a third-straight run for Georgia governor in 2026, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

Abrams, a former Democratic Party leader in the Georgia state legislature and a nationally known voting-rights advocate, narrowly lost to now-Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She lost the 2022 rematch to Kemp by nearly eight points.

Kemp, the popular conservative governor, is term limited and cannot seek reelection in 2026. The Cook Political Report, a top nonpartisan political handicapper, ranked the race to succeed Kemp in the battleground state a “toss up” – teeing up a likely competitive race in the Peach State. 

Georgia has followed the national trend in the past three presidential elections, all with President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. While Trump was triumphant in 2016 and 2024, former President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020. 

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Former Georgia House Rep. Stacey Abrams attends the Fort Valley GOTV Community Fish Fry at the Agricultural Technology Conference Center on Oct. 13, 2024 in Fort Valley, Georgia. Abrams is considering her third straight run for governor of Georgia in 2026. (Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr has already announced his gubernatorial campaign in November 2024. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is rumored to be mulling his own bid for the Republican nomination. Campaign filings reported by WABE earlier this year revealed that Jones raised $1.7 million for a leadership committee – about half a million behind Carr. 

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On the Democratic side, Georgia state senator Jason Esteves announced his campaign for governor earlier this week. Rep. Lucy McBath, who had launched an exploratory committee for her own gubernatorial run, announced she was suspending her bid to support her husband, following complications from a cancer diagnosis. 

Despite two consecutive gubernatorial losses to Kemp, Abrams has remained politically active in Georgia since 2022. In 2023, she was appointed the Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics of Howard University, one of the nation’s leading historically Black colleges. 

Stacey Abrams, Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia, speaks to the media at Georgia State University on Nov. 7, 2022 in Atlanta. Abrams lost the rematch to Gov. Brian Kemp and could be running for governor for a third time in 2026.  (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Abrams also served as a senior counsel for Rewiring America, a climate action nonprofit organization. She is the founder of Fair Fight Action, Fair Count and the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) – organizations focused on voting rights in Georgia, economic power, community building and DEI initiatives. 

Abrams is an author, having published several novels under a pseudonym. Her most recent book, “Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back,” was published last year. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Assembly Required.”

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The news that Abrams is considering a third run for governor was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Abrams did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by deadline.