*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).
Award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, and host Soledad O'Brien spoke to Cheddar about empowering women through her own podcast on financial literacy this Women's History Month.
Six House lawmakers are calling on Meta to stop paid ads from Chinese news companies that push Russian misinformation regarding the war in Ukraine. Matt Skibinski, General Manager, NewsGuard Technologies joins Cheddar to discuss the role of social media in this war.
Reva Shakkottai, Senior Vice President and financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she elaborates on factors besides Wednesday's Fed decision that led to gains across the major indexes on Thursday, including new home construction and jobless claims data.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech following the U.S. central bank's decision to raise rates and explains why Powell's comments move the markets more than the Fed decision itself.
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif. 29th District) joined Cheddar News at South By Southwest to discuss the variety of sanctions that the United States has placed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began last month and the impacts they are having both domestically and abroad. With rising gas prices, especially in states like California, Schiff noted that the American people are willing to make sacrifices in order to uphold their values and suggested that crisis may be a warning to shift away from fossil fuels. "At the end of the day though, this ought to be a wake up call that we need to stop our reliance on this oil economy and move to renewable sources of energy," he said. Schiff also explained his remarks about the January 6 commission investigating those closest to former President Trump and touched on a disturbing case in San Francisco where the police department used rape kit samples to ID a murder suspect.
Markets opened lower as the Federal Reserve announces plans to hike interest rates by a quarter point, while signaling six additional rate hikes later this year. Gary Schlossberg, Global Strategist, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Apple's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative is a $100 million program aimed at combating systemic racism while working to advance racial equity across the country. Alisha Johnson, director of the initiative, joined Cheddar at SXSW to discuss the work being done. "We focused on three critical areas. The first is education. The second is criminal justice reform, and the third is economic empowerment, really looking first in our own supply chain, how can we really increase our spend with Latinx, Hispanic, and indigenous-owned businesses," she said. "And then how can we go further to empower entrepreneurs who have been cut out of access to funding and capital and really help them to get the funding."
What you Need to Know on Thursday, March 17. Updates from Ukraine, President Biden refers to Putin as a ‘war criminal’ for the first time, Walmart has ambitious hiring targets for Q1, and Netflix takes steps to crack down on password sharing.
