ATLANTA (AP) — Locked in a bitter Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary, incumbent Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue don’t agree on much these days. But there’s one political force that can unify the former friends now battling for the same office within the same party: Stacey Abrams. Kemp and Perdue both sharply criticized Abrams, a Democrat who is running for Georgia’s governorship, after online photos showed her posing without a mask but surrounded by students wearing them at an Atlanta-area elementary school last week. It illustrates Abrams becoming a driving force that the GOP hopes can energize its base nationally — even amid its deep internal divisions.
![Stacey Abrams](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0f92a88/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5529x3110+0+288/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fewscripps.brightspotcdn.com%2F08%2Fe7%2F9eff5c344ce18dd874c54b3826d1%2Fap21335737234519.jpg)
Brynn Anderson/AP
FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, file photo, Stacey Abrams speaks to Biden supporters as they wait for former President Barack Obama to arrive and speak at a campaign rally for Biden at Turner Field in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
![Stacey Abrams](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0f92a88/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5529x3110+0+288/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fewscripps.brightspotcdn.com%2F08%2Fe7%2F9eff5c344ce18dd874c54b3826d1%2Fap21335737234519.jpg)
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