ATLANTA, Georgia--Republican Brian Kemp's campaign said on Wednesday he had won Georgia's high-profile governor's race, but Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams vowed not to concede until all ballots were counted.
"Simply put, it is mathematically impossible for Stacey Abrams to win or force a run-off election," Kemp spokesman Cody Hall said in a statement Wednesday evening. "Brian Kemp will now begin his transition as governor-elect of Georgia."
Abrams, 44, is trying to become the first black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. Unofficial results from Tuesday's election showed Kemp leading by more than 60,000 votes and just over the 50 percent threshold he needs to avoid a runoff under Georgia state law.
Abrams' campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said there were thousands more mail, provisional and absentee ballots, however, still to be tallied. The Democratic campaign cited an "incredible amount of irregularities" on Election Day, including rejected ballots and broken voting machines, and said it would consider all options including litigation to ensure a fair election.
The Georgia contest was among three dozen governor elections on Tuesday. In some states, the races were seen as an early test of the parties' strength ahead of the 2020 presidential race. Democrats seized seven Republican-held governorships, including in several states that helped deliver Republican President Donald Trump's surprise win in 2016, without suffering any losses.
But Republicans triumphed in Florida and Ohio, both swing states that could play an outsized role in 2020. In Florida, Democrat Andrew Gillum lost his attempt to become the state's first black governor, suffering a narrow defeat to Republican Ron DeSantis in a racially charged contest.
Republicans also scored a major victory in Ohio's governor race, where Mike DeWine, the state attorney general, defeated Democrat Richard Cordray. But in Wisconsin, Democrat Tony Evers appeared to pull off a narrow win to deny Republican incumbent Scott Walker a third term.
Democrats also won gubernatorial races in three other states - Michigan, Pennsylvania and Kansas - that supported Trump in 2016.
