Kemp fires back after Stacey Abrams calls Georgia ‘worst state’

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams briefly forgot the first lesson of Politics 101 over the weekend: Never criticize the place you’re running in.

Abrams, making her second bid for the Georgia governor’s mansion, trashed the Peach State to her fellow Democrats as the “worst state in the country to live” during a Saturday night dinner in Gwinnett County, hitting Republicans over their favored slogan.

“I am tired of hearing about being the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live​,” said Abrams, who acknowledged immediately after voicing the sentiment that attacks were likely to start coming in hot.

“Let me contextualize,” she said, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. “When you’re No. 48 for mental health, when we’re No. 1 for maternal mortality, when you have an incarceration rate that is on the rise and wages are on the decline, then you are not the No. 1 place to live.”

“Georgia is capable of greatness, we just need greatness to be in our governor’s office,” added Abrams, who owns two homes in the state. ”We need someone who actually believes in bringing all of us in there together.”

Republican Brian Kemp, who is seeking a second four-year term, was quick to respond.

“Stacey Abrams may think differently, but I believe Georgia is the best state to live, work, and raise a family,” the governor tweeted late Saturday​.​ 

“And Marty, the girls, and I will work hard every day from now until November to keep it that way for four more years!”​ he continued, referring to his wife and ​three daughters. 

Kemp, who defeated Abrams in a hotly contested gubernatorial race in ​2018, is expected to easily defeat former Sen. David Perdue in tomorrow’s primary and currently holds a consistent polling lead over Abrams.