Stacey Abrams Is One Giant Leap Closer To Becoming America's First Black Woman Governor

Stacey Abrams is officially one step closer to going down in history as the first black female governor for the United States. On Tuesday night, it was announced that she had clenched the Democratic gubernatorial primary, and will therefore be her party's nominee for the race to become the governor of Georgia. The Republican nominee is currently unknown, and will be decided during a primary in July.

Abrams is, according to Vox, an underdog in the gubernatorial race, given that Georgia is a traditionally red state and Abrams is the blue nominee. However, 2018 has reflected a reckoning for the Democratic Party, with several Democrats winning political seats in unprecedented races and the current numbers for the 2018 midterm elections (taking place this November) reflecting a potential wave of Democratic wins on the horizon.

If Abrams does win the gubernatorial race in November, it will be a watershed moment for American history, according to Vox: Abrams will be the first black female governor in the country's history, as well as one of only four black women (including her) holding state elected executive offices across the nation.

With that said, Abrams might not seem like that much of an underdog when you find out the roster of politicians publicly rooting for her. According to CNN, both Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders publicly endorsed Abrams' candidacy, while both California Senator Kamala Harris and New Jersey Senator Corey Booker physically visited Georgia to campaign on her behalf.

Of her win, Abrams posted a simple yet meaningful tweet. "You did it," she tweeted. "#TeamAbrams just won our primary election, and this victory responds to you."

Abrams' use of the word "victory" is extremely apt, even if she doesn't end up becoming the next governor of Georgia; in winning the Democratic nomination for the primary, she has already become the first black woman to even be a major party nominee for governor of Georgia, according to The New York Times. If that doesn't blow you away all on its own, then consider this: The deep South has not had an African-American governor (male or female) since reconstruction.

As you'd probably expect, Twitter has been blowing up in response to the news, with politicians, icons, and entertainers alike tweeting their congratulations to Abrams on getting that much closer to achieving such an extraordinary (and long overdue) milestone.

In her speech following the results of the primary, Abrams said,

I want to lead Georgia because I know we can do more. We can protect our health care, we can safeguard our kids' education and their lives ... we can build the infrastructure that connects us to another, we can repeal campus-carry, and we can expand hope. We can lead a stronger Georgia, a more compassionate Georgia, a bold and ambitious Georgia. We can show the old guard something new, and we can fight together for the good of all.

Although the votes haven't entirely been tallied yet, WSB-TV Atlanta reported that Abrams clenched her victory with an astonishing 75 percent of the Democratic vote, with opponent Stacey Evans, a former state legislator, taking the remaining 25 percent.

According to Abrams' official site, her proposed initiatives for the state of Georgia include higher quality day and child care, universal pre-K for 4-year-olds, an economic mobility plan to help lift families from poverty and reduce income inequality, and efforts to "decriminalize poverty through eliminating money bail and improving pretrial services and supervision," to name a few.

If you want to support Abrams on her journey toward becoming the first black female governor in American history, you can check out her site here, which will give you information on donating and contributing toward her campaign.