Fairfax, Va. – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms isn’t running for re-election and Stacey Abrams hasn’t yet announced a 2022 bid for governor. But both were back on the campaign trail over the weekend to support a vulnerable Democrat in Virginia.
About two weeks before the election, Abrams and Bottoms trekked to Virginia to boost former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s comeback campaign. They’re part of a string of high-profile Democrats aimed at boosting Black turnout in the race against Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Abrams, who became a national voting rights advocate after her 2018 defeat, visited several Black churches with McAuliffe on Sunday before holding a pair of rallies urging voters to cast ballots on Sunday.
At her rally in Fairfax, McAuliffe introduced Abrams as a “fighter to lift us up” and “the greatest voting rights champion we have out there today.”
“I went down campaign for her, and she’s returning the favor to me,” McAuliffe told the AJC. “She’s such a motivational speaker, gets people to understand how important this election is.”
Nathan Posner
Nathan Posner
Taking the stage with the strains of a Whitney Houston ballad in the background, Abrams praised McAuliffe’s record on voting rights when he was governor from 2014 to 2018 and urged voters to “show America what we are and what we will be.”
“You have the opportunity to show America that you can do good and do well, at the exact same time,” she said.
Abrams has continued to sharpen her national profile even as she’s expected to mount a rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. In the midst of a national tour that takes her to about a dozen stops, she’s tightlipped on her future plans but unsparing in criticism of GOP policies.
Bottoms visited three churches and spoke at two rallies, including a get-out-the vote event in Richmond where she addressed dozens of McAuliffe supporters chanting “vote.” She acknowledged polls that showed a tight race, but said her visit was “not because I’m afraid but because I’m confident I’m standing with a winner.”
“The reason I’m here is because the nation is watching,” Bottoms told CBS News. “Because this election matters to all of us in the same the nation watched Georgia last year. It made a difference. We’re not taking anything for granted.”
Youngkin denounced Abrams and Bottoms as political extremists whose visits are a “giant red flag that should worry every Virginian.”
Jenni Girtman
Jenni Girtman
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