How Atlanta politicos responded to Stacey Abrams’s State of the Union response

Abrams is the first nonsitting public official and first black woman to give the official State of the Union response

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If the country didn’t know Stacey Abrams’s name before, they surely do now. The Georgia Democrat, whose close race for governor against Brian Kemp made national headlines last year, is the first nonsitting public official and first black woman to give the official State of the Union response, which she delivered Tuesday night from Atlanta after President Trump delivered his remarks. She opened with a story about her father, a shipyard worker, who once gave his only coat to a homeless man while walking home in the rain. “My reason for running for governor was simple,” she said. “I love our country and its promise of opportunity for all, and I stand here tonight because I hold fast to my father’s credo: together, we are coming for America, for a better America.”

From there, she discussed the importance of bipartisanship, gun control, and voting rights. She criticized the president’s proposed border wall and the Republican tax bill passed last year. She even brought up her debt when talking about the importance of healthcare.

“Even as I am very disappointed by the president’s approach to our problems, I still don’t want him to fail,” she said. “But we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties and the extraordinary diversity that defines America.”

“That’s a wrap,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein tweeted just after the close of the 11-minute speech. “Here comes the flood of [reactions] from folks around the nation who haven’t seen her in action yet.”

And sure enough, Abrams’s name is once again splashed across national headlines from the Washington Post to the New York Times to CNN to Fox News. Here’s what Atlanta’s reporters, pundits, and politicos had to say:

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