Calling him a “warrior against corruption,” Stacey Abrams formally endorsed Jon Ossoff’s U.S. Senate bid two weeks after he won the Democratic primary for the right to challenge Republican David Perdue.
In a joint appearance Tuesday with Ossoff on MSNBC, Abrams said the investigative journalist will partner with the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who she earlier endorsed in Georgia’s other U.S. Senate contest, to fight corruption in Washington.
“Those are the kinds of people that we need to send to the Senate, and that’s why I’m so excited that Georgia is a battleground this year,” said Abrams, who launched the Fair Fight voting rights group after losing the 2018 race for governor.
Ossoff avoided a runoff in this month’s primary vote, capturing roughly 52% of the vote in a seven-candidate field to challenge Perdue, a first-term Republican and former Fortune 500 chief executive.
Ossoff said Georgia voters have experienced an “awakening” with the confluence of the pandemic, the problem-plagued primary and protests over racial justice and police brutality.
Abrams hit a similar note, saying Georgians set a record in the primary because “they understand what’s at stake. We’re not just redoing the 2016 election. We’re redoing the 2010 election” to redraw the political maps for the next decade.
Abrams previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she was "incredibly excited" about Ossoff's campaign, but the MSNBC appearance was her more formal endorsement of the Democrat.
Although she was neutral in the Perdue race during the primary, Abrams has played a more vocal role in the other U.S. Senate contest. She's championed Warnock, one of 20 candidates in the November special election challenging U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
Perdue’s campaign aides scoffed at the joint appearance of the two candidates, noting that both lost bids for governor and Congress.
“These two have one thing in common,” quipped Perdue spokesman John Burke. “They can’t win elections in Georgia.”
>>More: Record primary turnout fuels Georgia Dems' excitement about November
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>>More: Ossoff avoids runoff to win Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Georgia
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