Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg will hold meetings with Stacey Abrams in Atlanta today, according to three people familiar with the plans, continuing efforts by presidential candidates to court support from the former Georgia legislator and failed gubernatorial candidate.
The former Texas congressman, Abrams and the South Bend, Ind., mayor are all attending the Democratic National Committee’s African American Leadership Summit and IWillVote Gala today, as are presidential candidates Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Abrams shot to stardom after she narrowly lost a gubernatorial bid last year and has become an influence on the Democratic presidential primary. She met with Biden in March, prompting speculation that Biden would ask her to be his pick for vice president.
Abrams shut down rumors that she would join a presidential ticket before the party chooses a nominee, but she has not ruled out joining a ticket in the future or even launching her own presidential bid. Abrams did, however, decline to run for Senate in 2020 despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urging her to run.
For now, Abrams is focusing on organizations that advocate for voting rights and registration and reach out to “hard-to-count” minority populations ahead of the 2020 Census.
The meeting could be significant for Buttigieg, who has struggled to gain support from black voters in state and national polls and at his campaign events.
O’Rourke has previously suggested that Abrams would have a place in his administration, saying in March that he would put her in charge of combating voter suppression. Yesterday, O’Rourke unveiled a sweeping plan to boost voting rights that includes term limits for members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, banning political action committees from contributing to campaigns and making Election Day a holiday.
Booker campaigned for his “close friend” Abrams when she ran for governor and has called for a Department of Justice investigation into possible voter suppression in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.
