*By Christian Smith*
Midterm races in Georgia represent a test of Democrats' strategy to win back states from President Trump in 2020 and counter his conservative populism with their own unabashedly progressive appeal.
"When you talk to Democratic strategists, Georgia really is right at the top of that list," said Eric Boehm, a reporter at Reason. "Democrats are looking at Georgia as one of those places where they can make inroads against that electoral map that President Donald Trump won."
On Tuesday, Stacey Abrams won Georgia's Democratic primary for governor, becoming the first black woman to be nominated for governor by a major political party. With more than 75 percent of the vote, Abrams, a former statehouse leader, defeated another former state rep in the Battle of the Staceys ー Stacey Evans.
Abrams will face the winner of a Republican runoff between Georgia's Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp scheduled for July 24.
During her primary campaign, Abrams signaled she would not water down her progressive message in an attempt to court white conservatives away from Republicans. She has said she would raise the minimum wage, use Affordable Care Act funding to expand Medicaid, and do away with cash bail. The success or failure of her strategy could change the way Democrats approach Trump voters in 2020.
The midterm battles may have grown more difficult for Democrats recently. For the first time in the midterm election cycle, American voters are more likely to vote for the Republican candidate in their district than the Democrat according to a new [Reuters poll](http://polling.reuters.com/#!response/TM1212Y17/type/smallest/filters/PD1:1/dates/20180101-20180517/collapsed/true).
If elected, the 44-year-old Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor in the United States, and only the third black governor elected by popular vote after Douglas Wilder in Virginia in 1990, and Massachusetts's Deval Patrick in 2007.
Pinckney Pinchback became governor of Louisiana in 1872 after serving as lieutenant governor, and David Paterson was elevated from lieutenant governor in New York in 2008, but neither was elected governor.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/southern-democrats-nominate-historic-group-of-women-in-primaries).
David Levine, elections integrity fellow with Alliance for Securing Democracy, joins Cheddar News to discuss Politico's bombshell finding revealing the RNC's plan to contest the elections.
A survey by the BMO Real Financial Progress Index found that 25 percent of Americans are pulling back on retirement contributions to offset the cost of inflation. This comes as market volatility reduced retirement savings with the S&P 500 shedding more than 12 percent this year alone.
As abortion rights take center stage in courts around the country, so do discussions about reproductive health. Signs and social media posts say things like "protect women's rights" and "her body, her choice," leaving others who need and receive abortions completely out of the picture. The potential end to Roe v. Wade would impact far more people and facilities than you may think. Cheddar News' Baker Machado breaks it all down.
Arkansas is planning to reshape itself by putting a strong emphasis on technology through computer science in the classroom. Governor Asa Hutchinson joined Cheddar News Buffa to discuss the state's efforts to promote itself as a future tech hub. “It gives young people such a huge opportunity for success," he noted. The term-limited governor also touched on the issue of gun ownership, offering up the idea of possibly raising the age limit to obtain rifles like the AR-15 to 21 instead of 18 as it currently stands.
The dating app Bumble has sponsored bills and pushed lawmakers to criminalize the online practice of sending unsolicited nudes or “cyberflashing." Payton Iheme, Bumble's head of public policy for the Americas, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the app was going after the harassing behavior beyond its own platform. "Now, while we went to work internally in the company, and we created something called private detector to automatically blur those images so the user can decide if they want to see them, there's nothing for the rest of the internet," she said. "And so that's why we went to work with these laws."
Constituent service platform Indigov recently raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. Indigov bills itself as a constituent relationship management tool that helps elected officials improve the way they organize, respond to, and engage those they serve. The startup's services are being used by federal, state, and local governments across the country, including the U.S. House of Representatives. Alex Kouts, founder & CEO of Indigov, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
