Outgoing Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal stood before a bank of cameras and welcomed into his office a man he recognized as his successor.
“The governor-elect,” Deal called Brian Kemp on Thursday, accepting his fellow Republican’s resignation as secretary of state and promising the two would begin work immediately on transition business ahead of a January transfer of power.
All of it would be a routine scene two days after an election — except that Kemp’s opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, maintains that enough ballots remain uncounted to force a runoff, and she’s dispatched her legal team to explore every option to see if she’s right.
