Stacey Abrams says she’s running for Georgia governor

Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat and former candidate for governor of the state who built a national profile as a voting rights advocate, announced today that she would run again for governor in 2022, setting up a high-profile clash in next year’s elections.

“I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by ZIP code, background or access to power,” Abrams said in a tweet, which was accompanied by an announcement video with the slogan “One Georgia.”

If her campaign is successful, Abrams would become the first Black governor of Georgia and the first Black woman to serve as governor of any state. In 2018, Abrams, a former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, lost to Brian Kemp, a Republican, by about 55,000 votes.

The decision from Abrams, who has come to embody the state’s changing racial and political makeup and was previously considered to be President Joe Biden’s running mate, sets up a likely rematch with Kemp, who has already announced his campaign for a second term.

That potential face-off — along with a critical Senate race and several closely contested House districts — ensures that Georgia will again be at the center of the political map in 2022.

Last year, the state backed a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992, held two runoff elections that determined which party would control the Senate and was a central battleground in former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the presidential election.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.