- Title: Iconic civil rights leader John Lewis casts vote in crucial Georgia election
- Date: 6th November 2018
- Summary: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 6, 2018) (REUTERS) REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER WHO MARCHED WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., SHAKING HANDS WITH WELL WISHERS AS HE ARRIVES TO CAST HIS VOTE WHITE FLASH REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS ENTERING THE VOTING STATION TO APPLAUSE FROM SMALL CROWD OF WELL WISHERS AS MEDIA VIDEOTAPE HIM ELECTION VOLUNTEER AT TABLE HELPING VOTERS SHOT OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS AT THE VOTING BOOTH IN THE BACKGROUND AS OTHER VOTERS ARE VISIBLE IN THE FOREGROUND WIDE OF THE VOTING ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS ANSWERING REPORTERS QUESTION WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR THE STATE OF GEORGIA TO HAVE ITS FIRST BLACK GOVERNOR? "It would mean everything to the state of Georgia, and to the South, and to this region, and to our nation. It would lift people, give people a greater sense of hope, that we are laying down the burden of race, that we are moving toward the creation of what Martin Luther King Jr. called the 'beloved community'." WIDE OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS STANDING IN FRONT OF THE MEDIA, IS JOINED BY A FEMALE WELL WISHER WHO GIVES HIM A HUG
- Embargoed: 20th November 2018 17:15
- Keywords: John Lewis Georgia election civil rights icon Lewis voting
- Location: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
- City: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00195DCSHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Representative John Lewis, the civil rights leader who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and was brutalized by Selma, Alabama, police during the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" demonstration for voting rights, cast his vote in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday (November 6) for Stacey Abrams, who is vying to become the first female black governor in the United States.
Lewis, who represents Georgia in Congress, is now the last surviving speaker from the August 1963 March on Washington, which culminated with King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.
The contentious gubernatorial race between Abrams, a former leader in the state House of Representatives, and her Republican opponent, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, has been marred by accusations of voter suppression.
Abrams, 44, wants to mobilize solidly Democratic black voters, who vote sporadically in elections, to form a winning coalition with white liberals.
Underscoring the stakes in Georgia is the unusual attention from national groups seeking to push the party farther left. Their level of early support for Abrams is largely unparalleled among other 2018 gubernatorial and many congressional races. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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