Stacey Abrams, a top choice for vice president, pitches herself to Joe Biden: ‘I would be an excellent running mate’

'If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve'

Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who lost in a race mired in voter suppression controversies, has said she would make an "excellent running mate" for Joe Biden in a new interview.

The popular Georgia Democrat told Elle Magazine she would be “honoured” to serve as the former vice president’s running mate in the race for the White House against Donald Trump, while outlining her qualifications and enthusiasm for the role.

“I would be an excellent running mate,” Ms Abrams, who has previously pitched herself as a contender for the White House position, told the magazine in an interview published on Wednesday. “I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America’s place in the world.”

She added: “If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve.”

Ms Abrams refused to concede in the gubernatorial race to her Republican opponent, then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who maintained oversight of the state’s elections despite himself launching a campaign in 2018.

Reports indicated systemic issues with residents in Democratic-majority regions being purged from the voter rolls as polling sites in urban, largely-Democratic areas were shut down ahead of the vote — just as Ms Abrams was appearing to close in on Mr Kemp’s lead.

Mr Biden, who became the presumptive nominee this month after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primaries and later endorsed the former vice president, has vowed to pick a female vice president as his running mate and previously floated Ms Abrams as a contender, along with several other prominent women.

At an Iowa town hall in November, Mr Biden told an audience he was considering selecting “the woman who should have been the governor of Georgia”, hinting at Ms Abrams, as well as “the two senators from the state of New Hampshire”, referring to Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen.

Ms Abrams has never been one to hide her political ambitions: earlier this year, she said she would be “happy” to serve as a vice president pick to the Democratic nominee during a speech at the University of Iowa.

“When I got the question (from reporters) I was, myself, contemplating my next steps”, she said about the possibility of essentially running for the vice president position as Democrats battled for the presidential nomination.

“What I said was, you do not run in a primary for second place, so no, for whatever rumours are out there,” she said. “However, I’m not in the primary, but you can run as second in the general election, and I am happy to do so with the nominee. That is my answer.”

After her defeat in the Georgia race, Ms Abrams launched a nonprofit group dedicated to expanding voting access and ending voter suppression in America, called Fair Fight.

“I’ve learned that failure is not permanent,” the Democrat told Elle. “My responsibility is to not let failure dissuade me from my core obligations. Sometimes we pursue a challenge thinking it is about our victory, but we don’t know the true purpose until later. Not becoming governor of one state gave me the opportunity to launch a national network in 20 states.

“We are helping reform democracy in places where it was broken and battered. We are fixing access to a census that the president of the United States tried to destroy,” she added. “I may not have won the office, but what I was able to earn for the causes I serve has been extraordinary, and beyond anything I could have imagined. Apparently, I’m a really good loser.”