Primaries are mainly held to narrow down the field of candidates for office so that in the fall, in the general election, it will be easier to pick a victor.

Although Georgia is known for infamous, segregationist governors like Lester Maddox, this campaign which pitted a white woman against a black woman was largely absent of overt racial appeals. The NCBCP Unity '18 Georgia Campaign spearheaded robocalls from Black celebrities who included: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, Susan L. Taylor and others for a digital social media campaign targeted to 50,000 plus Georgia households of Black women voters. Abrams benefited from the "linked fate" philosophy among African-Americans that influences them to prefer black candidates because of their interests in advancing their individual and group interests. But her better than three-to-one margin over Evans showed she had built her own biracial coalition without a white skin - or conspicuous centrism.

This "battle of the two Staceys" was historic because two women competed as major contenders in a Georgia gubernatorial primary for the first time in its history.

Ms Abrams' victory came on the latest 2018 primary night to see Democratic women finding success, as voters in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas also went to the polls.

Yale graduate Stacey Abrams LAW '99 on Tuesday became the first black woman to be nominated for governor by a major party in the history of the United States. In 1872, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, a Republican, served as Louisiana governor for 34 days while incumbent governor, Henry Warmoth, faced impeachment. A Democrat has not held the governor's mansion since 2003.

If she wins, she'll be the first black female governor in the country.

Almost half of American states have never had a female governor. Wilder was not (and still is not) easy to typecast ideologically; he ran for governor on an anti-crime and fiscal-responsibility platform.

The news of Abrams' win was also personally exciting to Campbell.

First, she needs to shore up her support among Democrats by encouraging a high turnout.

To win, Abrams will need to find more than 200,000 more voters than the Democratic candidate did in 2014.

In Alabama, incumbent Republican female governor Kay Ivey is facing significant competition from former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and Democratic candidate Sue Bell Cobb.

"Yes, we all still make money mistakes", Abrams wrote in an April commentary piece published by Fortune, "but they don't have to be fatal to our dreams". Their numbers have grown steadily over the last few decades. That percentage grew to 32 percent in 2016. Despite the deciding power of black women's votes, they remain extremely underrepresented in politics.

Perry said that Abrams has not run from either wing of the Democratic Party - suggesting that a unified Party can win big in regions where the population is diverse in every way - from liberal city dwellers to rural farmers. "Black girl magic" is the term used to describe black female beauty, intellect and empowerment.

Democrats are hoping to target a suburban House seat in Kentucky, and it's another woman - Marine combat veteran Amy McGrath - who nabbed her party's nomination in yet another example of Democratic women prevailing in their primaries. And while the current dynamics of the Republican Party in the South and elsewhere don't make it likely the GOP will seriously compete for African-American votes (the GOP primary to choose an opponent for Abrams, which has gone to a July 24 runoff, was an all-white-male affair that constantly struck racist and xenophobic chords), it's a possibility down the road, as shown by the election (in a 2014 special election after he was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley) and reelection (to a full term in 2016) in SC of U.S. Senator Tim Scott.

The elections across the South saw a broad range of outcomes, from Stacey Abrams' win in Georgia to Laura Moser's loss and Gina Oritz Jones and Colin Allred's victories in Texas.