By Alexandra Hutzler
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Georgia's Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party, officially ruled out running for Senate in 2020 but left the door open for a White House bid—either as president or vice president.
"Public service has been a calling for me as long as I can remember," Abrams said in a Twitter video on Tuesday morning.
"The Senate provides a singular platform from which to address the issues of access to justice, economic security, health care and restoring the integrity of our nation's democracy," she said. "However, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate."
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It had been widely speculated that Abrams would run for Senate after she lost Georgia's gubernatorial election during the 2018 midterms. Her face-off against Republican Brian Kemp became one of the most closely watched races of the election cycle and garnered the attention of former President Barack Obama, 2020 candidate Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities.
After the defeat, Abrams was tapped by the Democratic Party to give the rebuttal to Donald Trump's State of the Union address. During her speech, Abrams slammed the president for his divisive leadership.
Just hours after her rebuttal, Trump said he did not believe Abrams could win a Senate seat in Georgia in 2020 but would "love" for her to challenge him for the presidency.
In her video announcement on Tuesday, Abrams said that she did not believe serving in the Senate would be "the best role for me in this battle for our nation's future." She quickly added that she will do everything in her power to make sure Georgia elects a Democrat to the open seat.
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Abrams first left the possibility open for a presidential run in early March during an appearance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, in which she shared her previous career goals.
She said at the time that "2028 would be the earliest I would be ready to stand for president, because I would have done the work that I thought necessary to be effective in that job."
Abrams later clarified on Twitter that 2028 was a goal she set years ago, and that she has not ruled out a run in 2020. Her former campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, also said that Abrams was "taking a look at all options on the table in 2020 and beyond."
Since then, Abrams has remained relatively quiet on her future plans. But she has met with some of the 2020 Democratic contenders, including Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, sparking rumors that she was weighing a run for vice president.
Abrams gave no further clarity about her future plans in her video on Tuesday, but she did ask viewers to "continue to stand with" her.
"While I still don't know exactly what's next for me, here's what I do know: Democracy in America is under attack," she said.
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