Abrams, 45, had been courted aggressively by national Democrats to enter the Senate race against David Perdue, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress. As a candidate for governor last year, she electrified Democratic voters in Georgia and became a hero to liberals nationally with an energetic campaign that ended in a narrow defeat.
“I am so grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from fellow Georgians, to leaders of Congress and beyond,” she said in a video announcing her decision. “However the fights to be waged require a deep commitment to the job, and I do not see the U.S. Senate as the best role for me in this battle for our nation’s future.”
She added she would do everything in her power to ensure Georgia elected a Democrat to the seat in 2020.
She elaborated on her thinking in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “My responsibility is not simply to run because the job is available,” she said. “I need to run because I want to do the job.”
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By opting not to seek the Senate seat next year, Abrams may be setting her sights instead on the presidency or the vice presidency, or another campaign for the governorship in 2022, when the man who defeated her, Gov. Brian Kemp, will be up for re-election.
As an African-American woman running as a progressive in traditionally red Georgia, Abrams, a former Democratic leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, was so inspiring to Democrats outside her own state that she contemplated seeking an even higher office: the presidency.
Abrams’ decision may leave national Democrats scrambling to find an alternative opponent for Perdue, a staunch conservative. At least one other significant Democrat, Teresa Tomlinson, the former mayor of Columbus, Georgia, has been preparing a run against Perdue, and she may now be best positioned to become her party’s leading option.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.