In a speech to her supporters on Friday night, Democrat Stacey Abrams acknowledged that shed lost the Georgia governors race to Republican Brian Kemp.

She noted that she isnt conceding, since the election was plagued by voter suppression . I will not concede, because the erosion of our democracy is not right, she said.

But shes giving up trying to change the results.

I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial elections, Abrams said at a news conference.

While Kemp had declared himself the winner the day after the election, Abrams, who would have been the first black woman governor in the nation, had been fighting for a recount. She detailed on Friday afternoon the ways in which Kemp, who oversaw his own election as Georgias secretary of state, purged eligible voters from the rolls.

More than a million citizens found their names stripped from the rolls by the Secretary of State, including a 92-year-old civil rights activist, she said, adding that democracy failed Georgia.

I know that eight years of systemic disenfranchisement, disinvestment and incompetence had its desired effect on the electoral process in Georgia, Abrams said.

Kemp denies any attempts at voter suppression.

CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to note that Kemp formally declared victory the day after the election, not on election night.