After 2 straight losses, Democrat Stacey Abrams sits out 2026 race for Georgia governor

The third time won't be the charm for Stacey Abrams, at least in 2026.

The two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee in battleground Georgia is ruling out another run for governor this year, saying that instead she'll focus on her work fighting what she warns is the nation's move toward authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.

"Americans are in pain but they are ready to act, and now is the moment to reconnect to what is at stake and what is possible," Abrams said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It’s clear to me that the most effective way I can serve right now is by continuing to do this important work. For that reason, I will not seek elected office in 2026."

Abrams, a former Democratic Party leader in the Georgia state legislature and a nationally known voting-rights advocate, narrowly lost to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She lost her 2022 rematch with Kemp by nearly eight points.

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Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital last spring that Abrams was mulling a third straight run for governor in the race to succeed the now-term-limited Kemp.

Abrams grabbed plenty of national attention during the 2018 Georgia race, and came close to making history as the nation's first Black female elected governor. Her refusal to concede to Kemp after losing by a razor-thin margin boosted her among many Democrats while becoming a top GOP political target.

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She launched the Fair Fight political organization following her defeat, helped Biden narrowly carry Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, and also contributed to the sweep by the Democrats in the Jan. 5, 2021 twin Senate runoff elections.

Abrams raised over $110 million in fundraising for her 2022 rematch with Kemp, but was soundly defeated by the Republican incumbent. 

In recent years, the political machine Abrams built has faded. The Abrams-founded New Georgia Project folded last year after being fined $300,000 for illegally backing her 2018 campaign.

And while Abrams last year considered a 2026 gubernatorial run, other Democratic candidates jumped into the race.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement during former President Joe Biden's administration, is widely seen as the front-runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

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Also running for the Democratic nomination is former Lieutenant Gov. Geoff Duncan, who was elected in 2018 but declined to seek re-election in 2022. The former Republican is now a moderate Democrat. Former state Rep. Ruwa Romman and former Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond are also in the race.

In the race for the Republican nomination, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has the backing of President Donald Trump.

The field also includes Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Abrams, in her statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said she'll keep her focus on the fight to protect democracy.

"The antidote to authoritarianism and its harms has always been democracy; and I have long believed that democracy requires active engagement and staunch defenders," she wrote."But democracy is experienced by the vast majority through the work of government — when it fails, we are all imperiled."