Abrams Meets Supporters, Constituents Before Session

About 50 constituents, lobbyists and supporters attended a pre-legislative breakfast Thursday morning sponsored by House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta).

The event was held at the Radial Café on DeKalb Avenue in Atlanta.

“The job of the minority party is to compete where we can and collaborate when we should,” said Abrams, whose District 84 includes parts of East Atlanta, including the Boulevard area near the Old Fourth Ward. “But we also hold the majority party accountable.”

The Georgia General Assembly is set to convene for the second half of its 2011-12 legislative session next Monday. Fewer Democrats serve in the state House and Senate than at any other time since Reconstruction. The party also has no statewide elected officials at any level.

Plus, will further reduce the party’s numbers under the Gold Dome. Several Democrats from metro Atlanta have been drawn into the same district, meaning they will have to run against each other to gain re-election.

“The Democratic Party is in a state of re-emergence,” said Abrams, the party’s ranking member at the state Capitol. “The coalition that held the party together for more than 30 years has shifted.

“But Republicans are doing a good job in helping us build a new coalition.”

Abrams also said a lawsuit will be filed before the end of January .