Brian Kemp says he’s Georgia’s next governor and Democrats say prove it

By Associated Press, thegrio.com

Outgoing Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a bank of cameras and welcomed into his office a man he recognized as his successor.

“The governor-elect,” Deal called Brian Kemp on Thursday, accepting his fellow Republican’s resignation as secretary of state and promising the two would begin work immediately on transition business ahead of a January transfer of power.

All of it would be a routine scene two days after an election — except the Kemp’s opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, maintains that enough ballots remain uncounted to force a runoff.

“We won a clear and convincing victory,” Kemp said of returns showing him with 50.3 percent of almost 4 million votes, about a 63,000-vote lead over Abrams. That’s a narrow sum considering the near-presidential election year turnout, though sufficient for the majority required for outright victory.

The Associated Press has not called the governor’s race.

With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the dispute is prolonging a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any American state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.

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