Georgia certifies election results, confirming Brian Kemp as governor

ATLANTA — Georgia's top election official certified the state's vote count Saturday, confirming Republican Brian Kemp's victory in the race for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports.

Kemp led Abrams by 54,723 votes, a 1.4 percentage point margin of victory. Abrams narrowed the gap as additional absentee and provisional votes were counted since Election Day, but she was still 17,488 short of the votes she needed to force a runoff.

Channel 2 Action News heard from both candidates Saturday.

Channel 2 Action News was at the state Capitol as Kemp held a news conference as he discussed his plan to unite Georgia.

"We're moving forward. It's been a long, tough process. I certainly appreciate Stacey Abrams' tenacity. But I’m proud of what we’ve done, too. Now we are going to move forward. I’m ready to get to work cutting taxes, focusing on rural healthcare, making Georgia No. 1 for small business and strengthening rural Georgia," Kemp said.

[RELATED: 'We're moving forward:' Kemp says he's focused on transition to governor]

Later, Stacey Abrams visited our newsroom to talk to political reporter Richard Elliot about a new lawsuit she plans to file with the week challenging the way Georgia holds elections. She said the suit will demand answers about what she calls "the gross mismanagement not only of this election, but of our election system and the administration of justice in Georgia."

Abrams said she isn't trying to overturn her election, but she is trying to make future elections more fair for others.

[ RELATED: Abrams acknowledges Kemp will be governor, says speech is 'not a concession']

Runoffs will be required Dec. 4 for race for secretary of state between Republican Brad Raffensperger will face Democrat John Barrow, and in the contest for Public Service Commission between Republican Chuck Eaton and Democrat Lindy Miller.

This story was written by Mark Niesse for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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