Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Celebrates Nikema Williams’ Victory in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
Georgia — Yesterday, voters in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District elected NARAL-endorsed candidate and Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams to the U.S. House of Representatives. Her victory over anti-choice Republican candidate Angela Stanton King marks a huge win for reproductive freedom. Williams has represented Georgia’s 39th state Senate District since 2017, and will now fill the seat formerly held by U.S. Representative and civil rights icon John Lewis.
In response to Williams’ victory, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement:
“NARAL Pro-Choice America congratulates state Sen. Nikema Williams on her victory in her bid to represent Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. If the last four years have shown us anything, it’s that we need champions like Nikema Williams in office who will fight for our fundamental rights and freedoms—including the right to abortion—in the face of unprecedented threats. NARAL and our members are proud to have supported Nikema Williams in this race, and we look forward to working together in the future to make sure that reproductive freedom is a reality for every body.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Director Laura Simmons said:
“NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and our more than 54,000 members across the state congratulate state Senator Nikema Williams on her election to Congress. We are grateful to Sen. Williams for her bold leadership in the state Senate and for fighting tirelessly on behalf of women and families in Georgia. Nikema Williams is a true champion for reproductive freedom, and we can think of no one better to continue Representative John Lewis’ historic legacy in the halls of Congress.”
NARAL reached over 3 million voters in key states including Georgia through its historic 2020 electoral program.
NARAL invested seven figures in a comprehensive program to reach hundreds of thousands of voters across Georgia. The program included 316,690 peer-to-peer texts, a robust direct mail program with candidate-specific mail pieces to reach 242,010 voters—including targeted mail in 19 state House districts—influencer amplification, digital ads generating 13,483,532 impressions, and two radio ad campaigns in partnership with Higher Heights Political Fund.
Georgia already has some of the most severe restrictions on reproductive freedom in the United States, which include bans on abortion throughout pregnancy, a forced 24-hour waiting period before somebody can receive abortion care, and mandatory biased counseling restrictions. These restrictions disproportionately harm BIPOC, low-income, and rural communities, and are part of a coordinated effort by the Radical Right to maintain white patriarchal control at all costs.
A new Change Research poll found that a vast majority (78%) of suburban women in Georgia oppose making abortion illegal and turning back the clock to the days before Roe vs. Wade. With Roe in the crosshairs, the stakes are high for women in Georgia, over half of whom live in counties with no abortion clinic.
Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters have fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom—including access to abortion, contraception, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 7 in 10 Americans who believe every person should have the freedom to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to raise a family.