Tricky

Many people have rightly chided Trump and other Republicans for saying that people like Bill Nelson are trying to "steal an election" by requiring that all votes be counted.  Counting votes is the essential component of democracy.  Martha McSally was lauded for clearing the lowest possible bar: acknowledging math. 

Stacey Abrams has a plausible but not irrefutable case for voter suppression.  She is in the position of having to prove a negative, namely that if Brian Kemp had not done what he did, she would be the rightful winner.  Frankly, I have some doubts.  Stacey Abrams is a very impressive figure, but Georgia is still Georgia.  Quite a few otherwise sympathetic "White Liberals" will still cling to the Angry Black Lady tropes and have their doubts about black politicians in general.  Exit polls certainly suggest that Abrams didn't do well enough with the same sort of voters that flipped GA-6. 

Both Abrams and Andrew Gillum very likely came up against a racial wall.  They were running in the South, with populations that contain more than their share of aging whites. 

Abrams ended her bid without conceding, which is more than just a rhetorical device.  My hope is that she would run for Senate against David Perdue in two years, but to win, she will need two things.  First, she will need a more credible Secretary of State than Brian Kemp who will work to make sure that voting is easier than it is now, especially for people of color.  Second, she will need to win more white votes.  There are some who are taking a "fuck white people" approach, but again that is a misreading of how elections work.  Yes, white Georgians overwhelmingly voted for Kemp.  But Abrams doesn't have to win white voters; she has to win enough white voters.

My worry is that she will need to build bridges to communities who won't be happy with the non-concession.  If she doesn't, her statewide career won't go anywhere.  That would be a shame.  Same goes for Gillum, though he has conceded, and he doesn't deal with the double edged sword of gender that Abrams labors under. 

It is very hard to win statewide election as an African American anywhere, especially in the South.  In order to win, candidates of color will have to win "enough" white votes.  I'm not sure how they get there.