She may live in Georgia, but gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams' roots are in Mississippi

Stacey Abrams may be a powerhouse in Georgia politics, but the Democrat has her roots in Mississippi.

“She is Mississippi raised and Georgia grown,” her mother, Carolyn Abrams, once told the Hattiesburg American.

Abrams, 47, grew up in Gulfport, where her parents raised six children, teaching them to work hard and love God and family.

“We had three tenets,” Carolyn Abrams said. “They were to go to church, go to school and take care of each other.”

Stacey Abrams took the family tenets and transformed them into a career in public service, including 10 years as a state representative in Georgia. She served as minority House leader for six of those years.

On Wednesday, Abrams announced she would run a second time for governor of Georgia. If successful, she would be the state's first Black governor and the nation's first Black female governor.

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Abrams threw support behind winning candidates

Abrams ran in 2018 against now-Gov. Brian Kemp, who said he plans to seek reelection but will face Republican challengers in the party primary. Abrams lost to Kemp by a narrow margin in 2018.

Since then, Abrams has stoked the political fires, delivering the Democratic response to then-President Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address.

She threw her support behind presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in the 2020 election and Georgia candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock for U.S. Senate.

Through her work with FairFight, a political action committee focused on voting rights, and other get-out-the-vote organizations, Abrams had a hand in registering an estimated 800,000 new Georgia voters ahead of the 2020 elections.

Georgia flipped blue in the 2020 presidential election, sending the state’s 16 electoral college votes to a Democrat for the first time since 1992. Ossoff and Warnock also won their races, giving Democrats control over both the House and Senate.

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Abrams returns focus to gubernatorial race

Now, it's time for Abrams to return the focus to her career.

Her campaign seeks to unite Georgians from all walks of life.

“Opportunity and success in Georgia shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code, background or access to power," Abrams said on Twitter as she announced the start of her campaign. "If our Georgia is going to move to its next and greatest chapter, we're going to need leadership.”

Abrams believes she is the leader that can make that happen.

"I've worked a lot of jobs in my life," she said. "And for the past four years, when the hardest times hit us all, I've worked to do my part to help families make it through.

"My job has been to put my head down and keep working toward one Georgia."

Parents were ministers before retiring

Both her parents worked as ministers with the United Methodist Church. Robert Abrams worked in prison outreach. Carolyn Abrams pastored a church in Wiggins.

The couple retired to their native Hattiesburg, where they raised their adopted daughter Faith Abrams. The family recently moved to Atlanta to be closer to their other children.

The Abramses had moved to Atlanta once before, when Stacey was a junior in high school.

Education was a key part of family life

“They were very accomplished children,” Carolyn Abrams said previously. “Even as kids they loved learning, they loved the challenge — I tell people they read the World Book Encyclopedia for fun. They taught each other."

Stacey Abrams was valedictorian at Avondale High School in DeKalb County, then went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Spelman College and a master's degree in public policy at the University of Texas at Austin.

She later earned a law degree from Yale University, as did her sister, Leslie Abrams, who was appointed in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama as a U.S. district judge for Middle Georgia.

Stacey and her five siblings attended some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country.

Andrea Abrams, who attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, earned a Ph.D. at Emory University. Richard Abrams attended Payne College in Augusta, Georgia. Walter Abrams attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. Jeanine Abrams went to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Their parents earned bachelor's degrees at Tougaloo College after graduating from Rowan High School in Hattiesburg. They earned advanced degrees while working full time and raising six children.

A born leader and natural problem solver

Even as a child, Stacey stood out from her siblings, her parents say.

"I knew from a very young age that Stacey would be special," Robert Abrams said. "Throughout her childhood in Mississippi, I watched a young girl grow into a leader dedicated to service."

Stacey was the natural problem solver, her mother said.

"She preferred reading to playing outside," Carolyn Abrams said. "The kids called her a walking encyclopedia. She always preferred reading to outdoor play and she’s always cared about people.

"This led, I believe, to her wanting to become governor because this is an area where she can really effect some change."

Savannah Morning News reporter Will Peebles contributed to this story.

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Georgia candidate for governor Stacey Abrams grew up in Mississippi