In Georgia, Abrams quickly concedes the race in sharp reversal from 2018 conspiracy theories

Twice-failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams quickly conceded her bid for the Georgia governor's chair on Tuesday, a sharp reversal from the candidate's protracted conspiracy theorizing after she lost the first time in 2018. 

"Tonight, I am doing clearly what is the responsible thing, I am suspending my campaign for governor," she announced late on Tuesday after polls showed her challenger, incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, far ahead of her in the race with most of the votes counted.

Abrams, who conceded she did not "cros[s] the finish line" in the race, told supporters: "I may no longer be seeking the office of governor, but I will never stop doing everything in my power to make sure the people in Georgia have a voice."

Abrams's quick and unequivocal concession comes in distinct contrast from her response to losing her 2018 bid, after which she spent several years intimating that the election was not legitimate and that Kemp himself was not the real governor. 

"I acknowledge that Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified as the victor of the 2018 gubernatorial election," Abrams said at the time. "But let’s be clear, this is not a speech of concession because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper."

In the lead-up to the 2022 election, Abrams continuously insisted she never claimed the 2018 election was illegitimate, arguing she "never denied the outcome" but instead only "questioned the process and the access."

That argument was fact-checked by the Washington Post in September, with fact-checker Glenn Kessler noting that Abrams "continued to suggest the election was stolen through 2019 and even as recently as 2021."