Stacey Abrams tests positive for COVID-19

Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) said on Wednesday that she has tested positive for COVID-19. 

Abrams’s campaign spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the politician tested positive for the virus during routine testing Wednesday morning, adding that she tested negative two days straight before giving her “Georgia Thrives” economic speech. 

Abrams delivered her speech at Atlanta-based Atlantucky Brewing on Tuesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, where she highlighted her latest initiatives such as plans to legalize casino gambling. 

“She is fully vaccinated and boosted and experiencing mild symptoms,” the Abrams campaign spokesperson told The Hill. “Consistent with CDC guidelines, she will isolate at home and looks forward to traveling across the state to meet Georgians as soon as possible.” 

The newspaper also reported that many in attendance wore facemasks during the event, as Abrams herself delivered her speech without using a face mask. 

A Journal-Constitution poll from last month showed Abrams trailing incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R) by 5 points, 48 percent to 43 percent, with 7 percent of those surveyed still undecided. 

Abrams is facing off against Kemp for the second time after Kemp narrowly defeated her in the state’s gubernatorial election in 2018. 

Abrams recently said in an interview that she is “deeply concerned” about hip-hop lyrics being used as criminal evidence in court cases, referring to the criminal cases of popular Atlanta-based rappers Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams and Sergio “Gunna” Kitchens, who were arrested in May on racketeering charges. 

“I do not know enough about these particular cases having not been in the courtroom and having not read the pleadings,” Abrams told Yahoo News. “But I will say that … as someone who believes very staunchly in the First Amendment, I am deeply concerned about any movement towards using a person’s word and their music or their writing as an indictment of who they are and as a proof point without additional supports.”