Stacey Abrams, a failed gubernatorial candidate, denied the results of the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election at least 35 times.
Although Abrams lost to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) by more than 50,000 votes, no charges were brought against her, as Fulton County, Georgia, authorities brought against former President Donald Trump for allegedly trying to illegally overturn the 2020 Georgia election.
“We won,” Abrams falsely claimed. “I didn’t lose; we got the votes,” and “we were robbed of an election.” She also called it a “stolen election” multiple times and argued, “It was not a free and fair election.”
Below are 35 times Abrams denied the results of her 2018 race, compiled by the Republican National Committee:
- 2018: “This is not a speech of concession.”
- “I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right.”
- 2018: “It was not a free and fair election.”
- “There could not be free and fair elections in Georgia” because of Brian Kemp.
- “But will I say that this election was not tainted, was not a disinvestment and a disenfranchisement of thousands of voters? I will not say that.”
- “No,” I didn’t lose — “I just didn’t win.”
- “It was a stolen election. … They stole it from the voters of Georgia.”
- 2018: Kemp isn’t “the legitimate governor-elect of Georgia”; he’s “the legal governor of Georgia.”
- 2018: “Yes,” I didn’t lose — “I just didn’t win.”
- “I’m watching [Kemp] steal elections in real time.”
- “I refused to concede because concession means that the process was proper, that the result was true and right, and I cannot say that.”
- “We don’t know” if I would have won “because of how [Kemp] behaved.”
- “I do not think we should concede an election until we know the results.”
- “I did win my election — I just didn’t get to have the job.”
- 2019: “I do have one very affirmative statement to make. We Won!”
- 2019: “We were robbed of an election.”
- 2019: “The system is rigged.”
- The election was “stolen.”
- “I tend to say I didn’t lose — I just didn’t win.”
- “We don’t have to concede elections anymore, because when we concede, we are condoning systems that are used to oppress us.”
- 2019: “I don’t” think it’s “dangerous” to use the words “rigged” or “steal” because “we can actually back it up.”
- “I have sufficient and I think legally sufficient doubt about the process to say that it was not a fair election.”
- 2019: “Someone outside asked if I’m ever going to concede. The answer is no!”
- 2019: “I didn’t lose. I got the votes. But we won’t know exactly how many because of how they cheated.”
- 2019: “They are going to steal your elections.”
- 2019: “The election was stolen from the people of Georgia.”
- 2019: “Thousands of Georgians had their voices stolen because they were not able to cast ballots and they cannot be guaranteed that their votes will be counted in 2020.”
- 2019: It was not a “fair” election and “if it looks like it’s cheating, it probably is. If it looks like it’s rigged, it probably is.”
- “The election was not fair — the process was not fair.”
- “No,” I did not lose “fair and square”
- 2019: “I’m not” a “good sport” who will “concede.”
- 2019: “I don’t concede that I lost.”
- 2019: “I make my claims” that I “won” “based on empirical evidence.”
- 2019: “I know in my heart of hearts, we won.”
- 2019: “We didn’t get the victory we secured.”
- 2019: “The game is rigged.”
- 2019: “I don’t believe” the “process was fair.”
- 2019: Republicans are “rigging the game.”
- 2019: “I don’t call it a loss; I just didn’t win…officially.”
- 2019: “It’s a pretty good guess” that “I would be the governor of Georgia but for the malfeasance and the mismanagement of Brian Kemp.”
- 2019: I “absolutely” stand by my decision to refuse to say I lost.
- 2019: “I will not concede. … This was not fair. It was not right.”
- 2019: “Yes,” Kemp “won through voter suppression.”
- 2019: “We won!”
- 2019: “The results were purely and fully attributable to voter suppression.”
- 2020: “I believe it was stolen from the voters.”
- 2020: “The election was stolen from Georgia voters.”
- 2021: “Just because you win, doesn’t mean you’re won!”
- 2021: “It was stolen from the voters of Georgia.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.