Article snippet: ended her campaign. Trump tweeted his congratulations to Kemp, who has stepped down as Georgia's secretary of state to take over as governor, while praising his Democratic opponent for her campaign. "Stacey Abrams fought brilliantly and hard - she will have a terrific political future!" Trump tweeted, while lauding Kemp for being "unrelenting" in the race. Trump’s praise of Abrams after she ended her campaign marked a departure from his tone on the Democrat during the race. In October, the president tweeted that she would “destroy the State” if she were elected governor. Georgia’s gubernatorial race was far closer than most statewide contests in The Peach State, with each candidate staking ideological claims far from the center of the spectrum. Kemp closely aligned himself with the president and tied himself to his hardline positions on issues like immigration, while Abrams was endorsed by several progressive groups. The race was mired by accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression, and Abrams's campaign refused to call it quits for over a week after Election Day in hopes of forcing a December runoff. Kemp currently leads Abrams by more than 58,000 votes, or 1.5 percentage points, and Abrams acknowledged Friday evening that she could not overcome the legal hurdle to continue with her campaign. "I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial elections," Abrams said in a speech Friday. “But to wat... Link to the full article to read more