Politics

Stacey Abrams meets with Joe Biden to discuss her next run

Stacey Abrams March 12, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Stacey Abrams met Thursday with former Vice President Joe Biden in Washington to discuss her next political step – and presumably his, too. And the sit-down between the two comes as each are weighing 2020 bids that could intersect.

Biden would become one of the leading candidates for president if he enters the race, while Abrams is weighing a bid for U.S. Senate, a rematch for governor – and has raised the possibility of her own White House bid.

[RELATED: Stacey Abrams says 2020 presidential run 'definitely on the table']

It’s the latest in a string of meetings Abrams has had with White House contenders. She’s huddled with Sen. Cory Booker in Newark, lunched with Sen. Kamala Harris in Washington and dined with Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Atlanta.

Like other high-profile Democrats, Biden endorsed Abrams during last year's run for governor, and scheduled a trip to campaign with her in Georgia before postponing it.

Abrams' narrow November loss to Gov. Brian Kemp has only propelled her national profile, and she's set an April deadline to decide whether to challenge Sen. David Perdue next year, prepare for a 2022 rematch against Kemp or take another step.

She's long wanted to be Georgia governor, but she's being heavily recruited by Senate Democrats to aim for Perdue, a first-term Republican with deep ties to President Donald Trump.

TRENDING STORIES:

More recently, some of her allies say her thinking has expanded to include positioning herself as a potential vice presidential running-mate, something that wouldn't be open to her if she was running for U.S. Senate. If that doesn't come through, then she would presumably prep to run for governor in 2022.

As for a presidential bid, she hasn’t begun the process of lining up endorsements, hiring droves of operatives and launching flirtation tours in early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. But neither has Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who on Thursday announced his White House bid.

Abrams has little incentive to rule out any of her options - White House, Senate or governor – too early. She's in the middle of a nationwide tour to promote her book and the intrigue helps heighten attention.

At a Thursday stop in Atlanta to thank supporters, she told the crowd that she was torn about her next step.

“I am going to run for something. And I will tell you in April. But everything is on the table. I’m not being coy,” she said. “This is hard. When you spend two years focusing on one thing it’s not easy to turn to something else.”