Brian Kemp Certified Officially As Winner Of GA Governor's Race

ATLANTA, GA -- Brian Kemp has been officially certified the winner of Georgia's nationally watched governor's race. Kemp was declared the winner of the race on Saturday by the Georgia Secretary of State's office.

Kemp finished with 50.22% of the vote, or 1,978,408 votes, next to Democrat Stacey Abrams' 48.83% and her 1,923,685 votes. Libertarian Ted Metz came in with 37,235 votes, or 0.95%.

Abrams acknowledged late Friday afternoon Kemp would be certified the winner of the race, more than a week after voters cast their ballots in Georgia's historic midterm elections. Abrams mounted a barrage of post-election legal challenges seeking to have as many contested absentee and provisional ballots counted as possible to force the race into a Dec. 4 runoff.

Abrams seemingly will not pursue any additional legal measures to challenge the election's results, but did say she has launched an organization called Fair Fight Georgia, which will file a federal lawsuit alleging mismanagement of this year's election and seek future election reforms.

There is already at least one runoff set for Dec. 4, that for secretary of state, between Democrat John Barrow and Republican Brad Raffensberger.

Newly appointed Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden told county election officials earlier this week to count absentee ballots as long as the voter's identity can be verified. Crittenden, who is the first African-American woman to ever serve in a statewide office, issued the guidelines Monday afternoon. Crittenden's office stressed that law and rules regarding absentee ballot verification and provisional ballots haven't changed, but rather "the purpose of the guidance is to ensure that county election officials are receiving accurate information as they approach their certification deadline."

SEE ALSO: Abrams: Brian Kemp Will Be Certified Winner Of GA Governor's Race

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ATHENS, GA - NOVEMBER 06: Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp attends the Election Night event at the Classic Center on November 6, 2018 in Athens, Ga. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)