The Stacey Abrams era in Georgia is over, for now

One significant upside is that Abrams is not the candidate she once was. Two earlier losses for governor, including a 7-point defeat in her second run against Gov. Brian Kemp, put doubts in Democrats’ minds that she would ever perform better.

She had also accumulated a not-trivial amount of potential political baggage, as the voting rights organizations she founded, the New Georgia Project and Fair Fight, struggled financially, and in the case of the New Georgia Project, faced mismanagement, ethics charges and eventual closure.

Although Abrams was no longer connected to the New Georgia Project when it ran aground, the one-two punch of her powerful groups floundering last year reflected poorly on the woman who created them, while also eliminating a very real voter turnout machine so crucial to her earlier strength at the polls.

Another piece of good news for Democrats with Abrams’ announcement is that it clears the way for the clogged talent pipeline that resulted as Abrams ran in 2018, again in 2022 and then left open the possibility she might mount a third run for governor later this year.

That decade-plus of wait-your-turns and not-this-times meant other young, ambitious Democrats stayed in the roles they had or on the sidelines.

But the general assumption this year that Abrams was unlikely to run for governor in 2026 brought out at least a half-dozen Democratic candidates for the top state job. There are more and different Democrats running down the ticket this year, too, who might have thought it unwise to take on Abrams and her power base.

The challenge now is that there is no Democrat running at the state level this year, from governor on down, who matches Abrams’ talent for fundraising, storytelling and capturing the imagination of other Democrats across the country to bring their efforts and money to help win Georgia elections.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is quickly becoming that figure at the federal level, while U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has already raised more than $22 million for his Senate race this year. Others running now, or inspired to run in the future by Abrams herself, may develop into the next Stacey Abrams. But there currently is a vacuum of star power for Election Day that the former House minority leader leaves in her wake.

One man who knows how to get attention is Republican-turned-Democrat Geoff Duncan, one of those six leading Democrats running for governor. Duncan was in Washington this week testifying about the events that led up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and then making the rounds on national news outlets.

Duncan told me he has spoken with Abrams several times throughout his campaign to check in with her and get her advice for his own campaign. He said she was gracious and helpful.

“I’ve always respected her opinion. She’s worked as hard as anybody in this race or in this party over the years,” he said. He explained that he likes to give her updates and get any “pearls of wisdom” she’s picked up along the way.

The biggest one was this: “I think she realizes, as importantly as I do, that losing for Democrats this year is not an option,” Duncan said.

And that brings us to where Democrats and Abrams are today. The biggest gift she gave her party for the years when she was ascending was the intangible and powerful belief that a Democrat could actually win a statewide campaign in Georgia someday with her at the helm.

The biggest gift she’s giving them now is stepping aside so they can deliver on that promise without her.