Stacey Abrams has become the first black female nominee in the US governorship race.

Abrams defeated former state representative Stacey Evans to win the Democratic primary in Georgia’s gubernatorial race on Tuesday (May 22), making her the first black woman in the nation’s history to be a major party’s nominee for governor. The 44-year-old politician and businesswoman was the house minority leader for the Georgia General Assembly and state representative for the 89th House District – endorsed by both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Abrams’ opponent in the November general election will be either Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle or Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Cagle and Kemp will face each other in a runoff for the Republican nomination in July since all of the candidates failed to receive more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday. If Abrams wins, she will become the first black woman to be elected governor in the U.S., as well as the first black governor and first female governor to serve in Georgia.  There are just three other black women who are serving in state elected executive offices right now – Jenean Hampton, the Republican lieutenant governor of Kentucky and Democrats Denise Nappier and Sheila Oliver, who are serving as Connecticut State Treasurer and New Jersey Lt. Gov., respectively.

Abrams was supported by African American voters, after working with great effort in mobilze Democrats who do not typically turn up at the polls, and she also enjoyed commendations from innovative organizations, including Democracy for America, the Working Families Party, MoveOn, EMILY’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

The chair of Democracy for America, Jim Dean said: “Stacey Abrams’ victory tonight is an incredibly important win for the grassroots movement that rose up behind her in this primary and a Democratic Party that is, in many ways, still searching for a way forward after the crushing losses of 2016 and the outdated, Republican-lite playbook that caused them.” Adding that, “We eagerly backed Stacey Abrams because she was committed to running a race that would definitively prove that when Democrats run a bold, progressive, people-powered campaign around our shared values, we can expand the electorate, restore faith in our democracy, and win.”

Abrams earned her B.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Spelman College in 1995, and She was appointed the Deputy City Attorney for Atlanta at age 29. Abrams co-founded companies including NOW Corp. – a financial services firm, Nourish, Inc. – a beverage company with a focus on infants and toddlers, and she is CEO of Sage Works, a legal consulting firm. In 2012, Abrams received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award from the Kennedy Library and Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, which honors an elected official under 40 whose work demonstrates the impact of elective public service as a way to address public challenges. She was also recognized as one of “12 Rising Legislators to Watch” by Governing Magazine in 2012.

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