The Latest: Kemp campaign: Abrams concession `long overdue'

ATLANTA (AP) The Latest on the Georgia governor's race (all times local):

9:30 a.m.

A spokesman for Republican Brian Kemp says a concession in the Georgia governor's race by Democrat Stacey Abrams is "long overdue.''

The statement Monday comes in response to a federal lawsuit filed Sunday by Abrams' campaign asking a judge to delay certification of Georgia's vote by one day to be sure officials count any votes that were wrongly rejected.

Unofficial returns show Kemp with about 50.3 percent of the vote. Abrams hopes to pick up enough provisional votes and other uncounted ballots to push Kemp's margin below the 50 percent threshold he needs to avoid a runoff.

Kemp campaign spokesman Ryan Mahoney said in a statement Monday that Abrams had ``moved from desperation to delusion.''

Mahoney said: ``Stacey Abrams lost and her concession is long overdue.''



12:30 a.m.

Republican Brian Kemp hasn't officially won Georgia's governor's race. But he's proceeding as a victorious candidate and promising to be a governor for all Georgians.

That might not be so easy.

If his narrow lead holds over Democrat Stacey Abrams and he ultimately gains the governor's mansion, Kemp will face lingering questions about his role in an election he oversaw as secretary of state. And his victory would be fueled by a stark urban-rural divide and his embrace of President Donald Trump's rhetoric.

Abrams, seeking election as the first African-American woman governor of a U.S. state, filed a federal lawsuit Sunday asking a judge to delay the vote certification deadline and make officials count any votes wrongly rejected. Meanwhile, Kemp is trying to maintain GOP dominance in a diversifying state.