Lucy McBath for Congress(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Lucy McBath felt compelled to “stand up” and protect children after the Parkland, Florida high school shootings.
McBath’s 17-year old son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 by a stranger at a Georgia gas station who said the teenager was playing his music too loud.
“I’m sure you’ll continue to see more parents like myself who are losing their children standing up,” McBath said. “It’s just going to happen.”
A former flight attendant and spokeswoman for Everytown for Gun Safety, McBath is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Karen Handel, who narrowly won the seat in 2016. McBath said she never saw a foray into politics in her life plan, but if elected she would make history as the only black woman in Georgia’s congressional delegation.
The first-time candidate is running in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, which hasn’t been represented by a Democrat since 1979. In 2016, however, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton nearly turned it blue, losing by less than 2 percentage points to President Donald Trump.
Over the course of McBath’s campaign, she has received influential endorsements from several prominent Democrats, including Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.
“We know the eyes and ears of the nation are here, we’re really trying to make sure that democracy works here in our state and make sure that it works for everybody,” McBath said in May.
But she faces two hurdles: Trump won the state by five points in the 2016 presidential election, and she’s lagging by more than $7 million in fundraising, according to FEC filings. The race is a toss-up, according to ABC News partner FiveThirtyEight.
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