Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Congratulates Reproductive Freedom Champions on their Democratic Primary Victories
For Immediate Release: June 16, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
In last week’s election in Georgia, nine of NARAL’s endorsed candidates won their Democratic primaries for Georgia’s General Assembly and will now advance to the November general election: Kim Jackson (SD-41), Michelle Au (SD-48), state Senator Nikema Williams (SD-39), Marvin Lim (HD-99), Rebecca Mitchell (HD-106), and state Representatives Teri Anulewicz (HD-42), Renitta Shannon (HD-84), Bee Nguyen (HD-89), and Dar’Shun Kendrick (HD-93). Nikki Merritt (SD-09) won the most votes in her race and will be heading to a runoff on August 11.
The Tuesday primary was plagued by problems disproportionately impacting communities of color, including hours-long lines, ballot shortages, and malfunctioning voting machines. This is not the first Georgia election to elicit widespread reports of voter suppression.
In response to the outcome of the primary, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Director Laura Simmons released the following statement:
“NARAL congratulates our candidates on their victories in last week’s Democratic primary. The appalling and unacceptable barriers Georgia voters experienced on Tuesday only magnifies the significance of these wins. For too long, the Georgia General Assembly has been controlled by politicians advancing a backwards agenda that flies in the face of Georgians’ values. The Republican Party knows their agenda is wildly out-of-touch so they resort to suppressing votes as a means of stifling the will of the majority of Georgians — who we know support reproductive freedom and believe that people should be able to make their own personal decisions about pregnancy without interference from politicians. NARAL was proud to support these candidates in the primary election and we look forward to sending them to the Gold Dome in November.”
In the weeks leading up to the primary, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia members engaged in a robust voter mobilization campaign, calling and texting 25,710 voters as part NARAL’s ongoing effort to elect champions for reproductive freedom up and down the ballot.
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”