Former Georgia Senate candidate, Sarah Riggs Amico, explains why Stacey Abrams will be a competitive challenger in Georgia

Sarah Riggs Amico, who ran in Georgia’s Democratic Senate primary in 2020, said that she believes Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams will be a formidable challenger in the governor’s race because of changing demographics in the state and possible Republican Party infighting.

During a Friday appearance on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Amico said that demographic changes in Georgia since Abrams last ran for governor in 2018 “skew very heavily toward the Democrats.”

“We have 1.3 million new voters in the state of Georgia since we ran in 2018. And of those, we think about 45 percent are likely to be Democratic voters … 31.6% black voters and 43% are under the age of 30. So these are demographics that skew very heavily toward the Democrats, and a quarter million of those new voters, by the way, have registered just in the last year alone,” Amico said.

“So number one, she’s looking at a landscape that’s considerably friendlier to Democrats, as we saw in the 2020 election and the 2021 Senate run-offs here in Georgia,” Amico added.

She also noted that former Sen. David Perdue’s (R-Ga.) entrance into the race and endorsement from former President Trump could set up “nasty” infighting among Republicans, who will be forced to choose between current Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Trump-endorsed Perdue.

“Particularly after this very nasty Republican infighting primary between Brian Kemp and David Perdue, I think she’s got a very clear mathematical path,” Amico said of Abrams.

Earlier this month, Abrams announced she would be launching a second bid for the Georgia governorship after her campaign in 2018 ended in a defeat by just 1.4 percentage points in a reliably red state. 

During a rally in September, Trump joked of Abrams that “having her I think might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know the truth.”