Black woman lawyer versus rifle-toting cowboy-boot man: showdown in Georgia

At this year’s Atlanta Pride, Stacey Abrams joined the state capital’s flamboyant festivities. Wearing a red dress, she stood on a white jeep, surrounded by rainbow balloons, waving regally. Her participation was a first for a governor candidate here. The LGBT voting bloc is among several key groups for Democrats, all crucial to the “Blue Wave” they hope will win back Congress in next month’s mid-term elections.

An urbane, African-American, Yale-educated, calmly spoken lawyer, Abrams is an unusual candidate for Georgia. But this traditionally conservative state in America’s South is changing.

Abrams poses a serious challenge to Republican Brian Kemp. He won his nomination by embracing the politics of Donald Trump.

His TV ads were forthright, aggressive and, to many, offensive. In one he aimed a rifle at his teenage daughter’s prospective boyfriend. In another he sat in his truck and threatened to “round up criminal illegals” himself. “Yep, I just said that,” he smiled to the camera.

All this appealed to those who see Kemp, and Trump, as patriotic men of action who reject “political correctness” and fight for ordinary working Americans and the right to carry guns. Days before Abrams was at Atlanta Pride, Kemp was in nearby Athens, home to the University of Georgia and its college football team, the Bulldogs. There the cowboy-booted candidate rallied a crowd of young Republicans and yelled: “Go dawgs!”

History favours Republicans in Georgia, but Kemp warned against complacency. His campaign has attacked Abrams as “too extreme” for Georgia, casting her push for healthcare reforms, tax credits and gun control as a radical shift Left. They have even accused her of being soft on sex offenders. Abrams has largely avoided taking the bait.

Meanwhile, Kemp is mired in controversy after revelations that 53,000 people — nearly 70 per cent of them African-Americans — had their voting registrations placed in limbo. As Georgia’s sitting secretary of state, Kemp denies accusations of impropriety.

Georgia is a state of contrasts. Atlanta has a vibrant economy and a large cultural footprint. It was the birthplace of the civil rights movement and Democrat Jimmy Carter. But its suburbs and countryside remain staunchly conservative. This contest mirrors much about modern America — the clash between urban and rural; progressive versus traditional. Like so much in today’s anything but United States, the election will be bitterly fought, and hard to predict.

Robyn Curnow is Anchor, CNN International. Full coverage of the mid-terms is on CNN International and at cnn.com