Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is leaning into the culture wars and betting the conservative record that powered Gov. Brian Kemp to a dominant win in the Republican primary will cost him with the broader electorate in the general election in Georgia.
Democrats are employing similar strategies across the country as they look to connect with swing voters more concerned with skyrocketing gas and food prices and more apt to blame President Biden and Democrats for inflation.
“For years, Brian Kemp has taken Georgia backward,” the narrator says in a TV ad the pro-Abrams “One Georgia” leadership committee started airing Wednesday.
“He put us backward on guns, said law enforcement, and made it easier for criminals to carry guns in public,” the narrator says. “He rolled back women’s rights, vowing to make abortion a crime with 10 years in prison.”
Asked about Ms. Abrams’ approach, Kemp spokesman Tate Mitchell said she “may be desperate to change the conversation away from the economic disaster her party created.”
“But, the fact is, under a Gov. Abrams, Georgia families already struggling with Bidenflation would pay even more to fund her far-left agenda,” Mr. Mitchell said. “We will not let that happen.”
SEE ALSO: Supreme Court to deliver on ‘culture war’ issues in much-watched cases this month
Democrats in Georgia have historically sought to steer clear of the national party figures that fought for more control and pro-choice activism.
But Georgia has grown more ethnically and racially diverse. The population has shifted from rural areas toward metro Atlanta, helping to shift the state from ruby red to purple.
Looking to woo the changing electorate, Ms. Abrams highlights Mr. Kemp’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and she’s distancing herself from him on abortion and guns.
Ms. Abrams appears to have room to run on some of these issues. Close to 70% of registered voters oppose concealed carry of handguns without a permit and the overturning of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion a constitutional right.
Mr. Kemp has moved in a different direction. He signed a fetal heartbeat bill that bars most abortions around six weeks and legislation that allows Georgians to carry concealed handguns without a permit.
“Stacey Abrams can make the case that where the GOP and Brian Kemp are is not aligned with most Georgians,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles S. Bullock III. “Most Georgians don’t favor [the gun and abortion laws]. Republicans do, yeah. They think it is great. But among Democrats and independents, it is not popular at all.”
It remains to be seen whether that is enough to overcome the deep reservoir of support Mr. Kemp has built up since he defeated Ms. Abrams in the 2018 gubernatorial race.
Mr. Kemp cruised to victory in the GOP primary last month overcoming stiff opposition from former President Donald Trump who had been targeting him ever since he refused to fully embrace his stolen election claims.
GOP primary voters gave Mr. Kemp glowing reviews for reopening the state’s economy during the coronavirus in the face of intense criticism. His efforts on guns and abortion hardened his primary support, as did his recent announcement that a pair of multibillion-dollar electric truck and car plants are moving to the state.
“I don’t think most people would look at that as ‘backward,’” Mr. Bullock said, referring to the pro-Abrams ad.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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