EMILYs List Statement on Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Brian Kemp
For Immediate Release
July 24, 2018
EMILYs List Statement on Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Brian Kemp
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tonight, Georgia Republicans selected Brian Kemp as their nominee for governor. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“Thanks to the race to the bottom that the GOP primary and runoff became, Georgia voters have already seen Brian Kemp’s true colors. As secretary of state, Kemp has continuously failed to protect the voices of Georgia voters, compromised voter information, and failed to act on sexual assault complaints against a company owned by one of his major campaign donors.
“Georgia voters have a clear choice this November between Kemp, an extreme, irresponsible, far-right ideologue whose incompetence has risked Georgians' personal information, and Stacey Abrams, a strong leader whose consensus-building and commitment to doing what is best for Georgia has resulted in real results for women and families. EMILY's List is proud to be standing alongside Stacey in this fight.”
Brian Kemp has been the secretary of state of Georgia since 2010 and has waged an assault on Georgians’ voting rights since taking office. Kemp was sued for blocking registration applications for thousands of minority voters after his office failed to process 40,000 applications, including for many voters of color. In 2014, his election director resigned after it was discovered that Kemp’s office improperly purged voters. Under Kemp, the personal information of 6 million Georgia voters, including social security numbers, was negligently exposed. His vocal support of Donald Trump, including the president's heinous call for poll watchers, earned him Trump's endorsement in the days leading up to the runoff. Recently, Brian Kemp, who as secretary of state has purview over the Board of Massage Therapy, came under fire for failing to take action after two massage clinics faced sexual misconduct allegations. Unsurprisingly, the owner of the clinics in question also happens to be a Kemp donor.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.
