In Senate runoffs in Georgia, the US state that has been a stronghold of the Republican Party, Democrat Raphael Warnock is projected to be the winner of the election, who will be replacing incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler, while Democrat Jon Ossoff is leading on the other seat, who is looking to defeat David Perdue, the Republican senator from the state from the last five years.

Georgia voted blue in the November 3 elections and is looking to flip the colour again in the Senate race with one Democrat already projected to win the seat.

The big win for Democrats is being credited to Stacey Abrams, who has spent the last 10 years in Georgia building the blue party’s political infrastructure and planning election strategy in the state. 

Who is Stacey Abrams?

A native of Mississipi, Abrams is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and novelist, who became the minority leader in Georgia’s lower chamber in 2011. The 46-year-old started strengthening the Democratic party’s base after becoming the minority leader, which equivalent to the leader of opposition. 

Abrams, in 2014, started the New Georgia Project that focused on the people of colour aged between 18 to 29 and unmarried women, describing the groups as the “New American Beauty.”

Then, in 2018, the 46-year-old ran for governor in Georgia, the first African-American woman to do so. However, she lost to Republican Brian Kemp, who was at that time, the secretary of state in Georgia and was accused of voter suppression by critics.

After losing the governor’s seat to Kemp, Abrams launched Fair Fight campaign, aimed at redoubling registration efforts and counter alleged voter suppression tactics that led to her loss, according to Abrams. 

How Abrams helped Biden win Georgia?

Along with ground-level organisations, Abrams was able to register over 8 lakh voters in Georgia, which majorly included people from Black, Hispanic and Asian communities, in the two years before the 2020 elections. Abrams’ efforts played a critical role in Biden’s winning the traditionally red state as the Democrat edged past Republican President Donald Trump by a thin margin of 0.24%. The same voters are now being boosted as Democrats’ win in the Senate race. 

Abrams is expected to run for Georgia governor again in 2022 as many Democrats also rooting for her to become the party’s chairwoman or either take up a crucial position in the Biden administration.