- The Washington Times - Thursday, November 8, 2018

Brian Kemp resigned as Georgia’s secretary of state Thursday saying he wanted to focus on the transition to governor — and leaving a host of questions about the tight election that his opponent has yet to concede.

Mr. Kemp, a Republican, has claimed victory in the governor’s race but Stacey Abrams says she sees enough contested votes that Mr. Kemp might not be able to top the 50 percent mark which, under state law, would trigger a runoff.

With Ms. Adams bidding to become the nation’s first black woman to claim a governor’s mansion, the stakes in the race are high.

Complicating matters is that as secretary of state, Mr. Kemp was in charge of the vote and would have been in charge of the counting.

Democrats had called for him to resign to avoid tainting the count.

He did resign, though he said it was to prepare for the transition to governor.

“I look forward to serving as Georgia’s 83rd governor and building on the success of your tenure as the leader of our state,” he said in a letter announcing his resignation to term-limited Gov. Nathan Deal, also a Republican.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

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