Abrams, a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives clinched the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Georgia with a big win over her opponent, former state Rep. Stacey Evans. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Abrams had 76 percent to the 24 percent Evans received.
The four major contenders for the Democratic nod in the Florida gubernatorial race, Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Chris King, and Philip Levine, all posted messages of praise for Abrams on Twitter. But none of them have announced a detailed plan to increase state support for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) like Abrams has.
Abrams was a student at Spelman College during the presidency of the legendary Johnetta B. Cole. She has pledged to boost state spending for HBCUs in Georgia if she wins the governorship.
The “Higher Education” section of her campaign website includes a paragraph with the heading “Increase Support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” It promises more money for capital projects at HBCUs among other forms of aid.
The issues pages on the campaign websites for the four major Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Florida all have statements about supporting education, but don’t say how much more state money or what types of new funding they will promise for the HBCUs in Florida.
At the time of this posting (May 23, 2018), Graham is the only candidate who has even mentioned the state's HBCUs on her website’s list of campaign priorities.
The four HBCUs in Florida are: Florida A&M University, Bethune-Cookman University, Edward Waters College, and Florida Memorial University.