Stacey Abrams will not run for Senate seat in Georgia now that Republican Johnny Isakson to retire

WASHINGTON -- Democrat Stacey Abrams, former gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, said Wednesday she will not be running for the seat Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will be vacating, after he announced that he will be retiring for health reasons.

An Abrams spokesman said in a statement: "Our thoughts are with Senator Isakson and his family. Leader Abrams' focus will not change: she will lead voter protection efforts in key states across the country, and make sure Democrats are successful in Georgia in 2020."

“While she will not be a candidate herself, she is committed to helping Democratic candidates win both Senate races next year," the statement continued.

A special election will be held in November 2020 to fill the remaining two years of Isakson’s term in addition to the regular election already planned because Sen. David Perdue's, R-Ga., full six-year term is up in early 2021. Perdue is seeking re-election for another six years in the Senate, the Atlanta Journal Constitution has reported. Isakson's retirement means that both Republican-held Senate seats in the state will be up for grabs in the same election next year.

Abrams has also already taken herself out of consideration for a 2020 presidential run after she garnered national attention following her 2018 run for governor. But Abrams has said she would be open to being the running mate on the Democratic ticket next year.

More: Stacey Abrams isn't running for president — she's launching a voter protection program

In a highly contested gubernatorial race last year in Georgia, Abrams lost to Brian Kemp, the Republican secretary of state for Georgia who was in charge of administering the state’s elections including the one where he faced off against Abrams. After her loss, Abrams put a spotlight on the issues and challenges she said voters in Georgia had faced and on the issue voter suppression more broadly across the country.

“There are only two things stopping us in 2020: that people have a reason to vote, and that they have the right to vote,” Abrams said earlier this month. “I’ve decided to leave it to a whole bunch of other people to make sure they have a reason to vote."

About possibly being Democrats' vice presidential nominee next year, Abrams said, “I would be honored to be considered by any nominee. But my responsibility is to focus on the primary. And that means using the primary as an opportunity to build the apparatus to fight voter suppression.”

More: Stacey Abrams: I'd be 'honored' to be running mate of any 2020 Dem presidential candidate

Abrams recently announced Fair Fight 2020, a voter protection campaign she will lead that endeavors to train staffers in battleground states across the country to work against voter suppression ahead of the 2020 election.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stacey Abrams will not run for Johnny Isakson's Senate seat in Georgia