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Once a practice rooted inreligious beliefs, socially responsible investing, or ESG investing in todays lexicon, is about to become a secular practice mandated by the government.

The Biden administrations push to require all publically-traded firms to report their greenhouse gas emissions as a component of new public disclosure requirements is a step toward making ESG investing mandatory. In this new twist, the government will decide which firms deserve access to investment capital. Mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to government regulations that will curtail new capital investments in companies that produce or consume fossil fuels.

With a United Nationsendorsement, the socially responsible investment fashion of the late 20th century transitioned into the Environmental, Social and Governance movement or ESG. Once a voluntary movement that prioritized investment in companies that adopt policies and practices that promote the progressive lefts environment, labor and human rights causes, ESG investing is about to become a regulatory tool they will use to achieve specific objectives.

Investor interest in voluntarily supporting companies that champion specific nonprofit-oriented practices created incentives for businesses to signal their ESG efforts in public disclosures. The movement spawned an industry to provide ESG ratings that purportedly assess a firms adherence with ESG-related climate change, labor and governance policies. Investment managers use these ratings to identify ESG-friendly companies. More recently, international pressures have been building to standardize and mandate ESG disclosure. Last year, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) established theInternational Sustainability Standards Board(ISSB) to create standardsfor companies to use when making periodic disclosures on ESG-related issues.

The experience with voluntary ESG disclosures suggests that mandatory disclosures alone are unlikely to produce progress on progressives agenda. Because voluntary company ESG disclosures and ESG rating have not produced the lefts desired outcomes, further government measures will be required.

The incongruence between ESG ratings and the progressive lefts agenda is readily apparent. For example, a recent Bloombergreportanalyzing the ratings produced by MCSI Inc. found that they dont measure a companys impact on the Earth and society. In fact, they gauge the opposite: The potential impact of the world on the company and its shareholders. Similarly,ananalysisof MSCIs large bank ESG ratings found that many large banks received ESG rating upgrades in recognition of their environmental efforts despite the fact that they were among the banks most active in funding the oil and gas industries.

The dissonance between ESG ratings and ESG goals is not limited to one rating agency. According to the Dow Jones North American Sustainability Index, Philips Morris gets ahigh ESG ratingdespite the fact that it sells 700 billion cigarettes a year. The irony is that the crusade todisinvest big tobacco was one of the first organized campaigns of the nascent ESG movement. Similarly, Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook receive favorable ESG ratings while few socially responsible investors would likely consider them good corporate citizens, given their allegedmonopolisticpractices and their history oflabor disputes.

The fuzzy link between ESG disclosures and agency ESG ratings is being used to justify the standardization of ESG disclosures. But the move to standardize and mandate ESG disclosures has another purpose. It is the first step toward creating metrics regulatory agencies can use to penalize public companies involved in politically disfavored industries most immediately, those that extract, refine or use significant amounts of fossil fuels.

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has jurisdiction over rules regarding mandatory disclosures in securities prospectuses and reoccurring public company reports. Since2010, SEC guidance regarding ESG-related disclosure is that ESG considerations should be discussed when they represent a material factor in the business description, risks, management outlook or legal proceedings facing a company. The SEC is currently revisiting this guidance and seems likely to require public companies and investment funds to report on their ESG-related accomplishments in a standardized format that includes disclosures on their greenhouse gas emissions calculated usingGHG Protocols.

The plan to mandate disclosure of public companies greenhouse gas emissions, while veiled as an initiative to improve public disclosure, serves another policy goal of the Biden administration restricting fossil fuel-intensive industries access to investment capital. The recent Financial Stability Oversight Councilreportfound that climate change poses a systemic risk to the financial sector. Such a declaration empowers financial regulators to useDodd-Frank Actpowers to identify and mitigate systemic threats to the financial system.

Under authorities granted by the Dodd-Frank Act, new regulations can be imposed to discourage investment in firms with high greenhouse gas emissions using the justification that the regulations are needed to reduce financial system systemic risk. Requiring public companies to disclose their emissions is but the first step in a broader policy agenda.

Regulations to discourage investments in high emissions firms could take many forms once public firms are required to report them using standardized methods. Regulators could impose higher bank regulatory capital requirements for investments that fund firms with high emissions. Alternatively, they could use supervisory stress tests with extreme climate-change transition shocks to force banks to categorize such firms as exceptionally large credit risks. They could impose limits on the total greenhouse gas emissions in investment portfolios and require credit rating agencies to downgrade securities linked with high emissions. As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions Graham Steele haswritten, there are countless ways the data could be used to restrict carbon-emitting firms from accessing investment capital.

Today, the option of investing in companies with ESG-friendly policies is at risk of being transformed into a requirement that companies prioritize the progressive lefts ESG goals over shareholder returns. Not only are periodic ESG disclosures likely to become mandatory, but the standardized data they will be required to provide will allow regulators to penalize public companies involved in disfavored industries including those that invest in, or make heavy use of, fossil fuels.

Paul H.Kupiecis a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies systemic risk and the management and regulations of banks and financial markets.

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Socially responsible investing is turning into a covert war on fossil fuels | TheHill - The Hill

DEVELOPING... Story will be updated as new information can be verified. Updated 4 times

WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is signaling an election year shift to the center, embracing a strategy he hopes will protect fragile Democratic majorities in Congress. But hes risking a revolt from key voices across his partys sprawling coalition.

In his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, the Democratic president embraced Republican calls to strengthen the nations southern border and barely mentioned climate change. He glossed over concerns about voting rights and spent little time heralding his historic decision to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. On domestic issues, he was perhaps most blunt in disavowing the push from some Black Lives Matter activists to defund the police.

The calculated messages, threaded through one of the most important speeches of Bidens young presidency, marked a clear effort to reset the political climate for Democrats. Polls suggest the party is losing support from almost every demographic at the outset of the 2022 campaign. But Bidens effort to stabilize the party could alienate the coalition of Black people, young people, progressives and independents who delivered him the presidency in 2020 and will be needed again this year.

His address intensified a debate inside the party about how best to proceed this year, with many veteran lawmakers embracing Bidens tone while younger, more progressive critics on the left warned he wasnt connecting with the Democrats most loyal voters.

There was particular frustration with Bidens declaration that the nations police need more funding, seen by some as a tone-deaf overture to white voters at the expense of millions of Black Americans still waiting for the president to deliver promised policing reforms almost two years after George Floyds murder.

Our party often, we target the white moderate, we target the white independent. And I get it, right. Those are the swing voters and we want to get them. But we continue to underestimate Black and brown people, said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. I liked 95% of the speech, maybe even 97%, but he missed an opportunity to bring Black voters in more and voters of color in more.

Beyond Washington, Melina Abdullah, a grassroots director for Black Lives Matter, was more frank in her criticism. Slapping down those on the left wanting to defund the police, Biden three times called for funding as Democrats and Republicans gave him a standing ovation.

Its appalling that he would say it, that he would repeat it, and he would say it with such exuberance, Abdullah said, warning of dire political consequences. They think we dont have a choice. Maybe we wont vote for Republicans, but we will stay home. And thats something that Democrats cant afford to have happen.

For now, the White House is betting that Democrats have more to gain by siding with voters in the middle who are worried about the nations rising crime rates than with those focused on police brutality. And public polling indicates that a significant portion of voters of color do support increased funding for law enforcement.

The third-ranking House Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, defended Bidens reach for the center.

I think he knows what the country needs, and he laid out exactly what we need to do to bring this country back together, Clyburn said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., praised Bidens explicit opposition to calls for defunding the police: I think he spoke for all of us, Hoyer said.

He was trying to dispel what is a false scenario that the Republicans have tried to create since a couple of our members out of 223 or 4 said they were for defunding the police, he added. Democrats are not for defunding the police.

But some of the most prominent progressives in Congress insisted Biden wasnt speaking for them when it comes to policing.

Im not going to change how I feel, Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said Wednesday. Im not going to stop saying defund the police at all.

Only 34% of Americans say the things Biden has done in office are good for Americans, according to a February AP-NORC poll. Nearly as many 29% say hes been bad for Black Americans. Another 36% say hes been neither good nor bad.

Thats a decline from the first few months of his presidency, when 50% said in a poll in late April and early May that things he was doing were good for Black Americans.

As the midterm campaign begins, such tension within the Democratic Party is unlikely to subside. In a potential preview of whats to come, nine-term incumbent Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar failed to clear the 50% threshold in Tuesdays Democratic primary and will face progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in a runoff election in May.

Despite an energized progressive wing, Democratic pollster Jeff Pollock suggested Bidens focus on the center is smart politics.

The data shows if there is softening in Bidens numbers, it is coming from the middle: centrist Republicans, centrist Democrats, independents who are in the middle, he said. And theyre also the ones who happen to swing the elections, including the midterms.

If Joe Biden is aiming things at the center, Im all for it, Pollock added.

Even under the best of conditions, history suggests that Bidens party is likely to lose its House and Senate majorities come November. If the Democratic Party cannot unify its disparate factions, the losses could be staggering.

And even as the Democratic strategists applauded Biden, younger African Americans and progressive activists said his strategy left them feeling angry and alienated.

John Paul Mejia, a spokesman for the Sunrise Movement, a national youth organization focused on climate change, criticized Biden for largely ignoring that issue and other priorities for young people including student loan debt.

Biden needs to have some respect for the people and issues that got him into power, he said.

And like other activists, Paul Mejia said he was most disturbed by Bidens call to fund the police. He called it absolutely disgusting.

I understand the messaging tactic there, he said. But I dont think Biden should be stabbing the backs of loads of organizers and activists who participated in the uprisings over the summer and got him into office.

___

Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.

___

This story was first published on March 2, 2022. It was updated on March 3, 2022, to correct the name of a national youth organization focused on climate change. It is the Sunrise Movement, not the Sunrise Foundation.

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Biden risks progressives, Blacks with pivot to the center - Albuquerque Journal

Tuesday night began the long anticipated 2022 midterm cycle, one with huge stakes for Democrats as they hope to hold onto their fleeting majority in the House and the Senate. Results trickled in while President Biden delivered his first formal State of the Union, and many anticipated those returns would serve as a referendum on whats been a bumpy first year in office, one marked by Democrats moderate faction torpedoing the presidents agenda, while seeking open antagonism with the partys progressives.

At first glance, Texass results look like a triumph for progressives, who came away with some major victories, and didnt lose any top-priority races. The biggest breakthrough came by way of Texass 35th Congressional District, a gerrymandered deep-blue seat with pockets in Austin and San Antonio. Austin city councilman Greg Casar won the Democratic nomination outright, crushing the field with over 60 percent of the vote in a four-way contest. Endorsed by seemingly every major progressive group but the Democratic Socialists of America, Casars victory is a huge win for the left in Congress, which after just one round of primaries is already sure to add one more member to the ranks of the Squad.

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Notably, Casar pushed for cuts to Austins police funding and supported the decriminalization of outdoor camping, putting his victory deeply at odds with national Democrats newly fulsome embrace of police departments and expanding police budgets. Casars victory became clear at the same time Joe Biden delivered a chest-thumping rejection of defund the police movements, one that was met by a standing ovation from congressional Democrats. Also notable was Casars disavowal of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement on the campaign trail, which led to his breakup with DSA, a sign that after Nina Turners loss in Cleveland, progressives are steering clear of confrontation with the deep-pocketed Democratic Majority for Israel PAC. Casar will represent a newly drawn district that features working-class and multiracial parts of metro San Antonio and East Austin.

Progressives also triumphed in Texass 30th District south of Dallas, though in less resounding fashion. Jasmine Crockett, a state lawmaker who built something of a national reputation by leading the opposition to Texass draconian and restrictive new voting laws and was endorsed by some national progressive groups like the Working Families Party, easily won her race for the seat being vacated by the retiring Eddie Bernice Johnson, but fell just short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a May 24 runoff. Crockett was endorsed by Johnson personally.

Meanwhile, in South Texass 28th District, progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros is also headed for a runoff against nine-term incumbent Henry Cuellar, after neither managed to breach the 50 percent threshold needed to secure the Democratic nomination. At last count, Cuellar looked to be slightly ahead, though another progressive candidate, Tannya Benavides, won nearly 5 percent of the vote share, which would have been more than enough to put Cisneros over the top. The runoff will be the third time Cuellar and Cisneros have squared off since 2020; two years ago, Cuellar beat Cisneros by four points.

Cisneross improved result in a district that has more favorable turf for her in Bexar County looks heartening for progressive groups, some of which have already called the runoff a triumph. There are plenty of ways to see in the returns a path to victory, with Benavides out of the race.

For well over a decade, Democrats have claimed to be just one cycle away from becoming a truly competitive force in Texas.

But its hard not to also see some disappointment in the result. The recent FBI raid of Cuellars house and campaign office hangs like a pall over his candidacy. Nearly every national Democratic organization sat out the race after that raid, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is notorious for meddling in Democratic primaries. Its a far cry from 2020s contest, which concluded with Nancy Pelosi coming to South Texas to campaign on Cuellars behalf. Pelosis campaign operation donated to Cuellar in the early goings of the 2022 contest, but didnt contribute another cent after the FBI turned up. The only incumbent protection outfits to endorse and stand by Cuellar post-raid were Bold PAC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucuss campaign arm, and Rep. Steny Hoyer personally. Cuellar himself wasnt meaningfully on the trail in the races final weeks.

Yet Cuellars ability to push the race into a runoff is a testament to the power of the local political machine hes built, and its capacity for inertia, as well as his substantial campaign coffers, a multimillion-dollar fundraising advantage. Even the most moderate of Democrats is aware that if Cuellar does triumph as the 28th District Democratic nominee for a tenth time, the general election will be brutal. Already, Republicans believe they have an outside shot in a Rio Grande Valley district that swung wildly away from Joe Biden and toward Donald Trump in 2020. And Republicans have found messaging on Democratic corruption, real or imagined, to be an immensely successful campaign strategy. The footage of the FBI rifling through Cuellars Laredo mansion will make that all the more effective.

Cuellar should face stiff competition to become the Democratic nominee. He was the only House Democrat to vote against a bill codifying Roe v. Wade as law, which died in the Senate just this week. He was the only House Democrat to vote against the PRO Act, which would greatly expand union enrollment. That means that both organized labor and pro-choice groups in the Democratic Party could make a meaningful push for Cisneros down the line. Given the salience of the abortion fight in Texas specifically and nationwide, and with the Court primed to vanquish Roe in this session, its almost impossible to see how national Democrats can accommodate Cuellar going forward.

For well over a decade, Democrats have claimed to be just one cycle away from becoming a truly competitive force in Texas. Those pronouncements have quieted. The states rightward surge continued last night as well. Trump-backed candidates dominated statewide. Gov. Greg Abbott romped in his primary race. Beto ORourke won the basically uncontested Democratic nomination to take him on in November, but his odds look only slightly more hopeful than his presidential aspirations were.

Also yet to be seen is the role of Texass stringent new voter restriction laws. In both Harris and El Paso Counties, nearly 30 percent of mail-in ballots were flagged for disqualification, according to the Guardian USs Sam Levine. Thats a stunningly high number, and gives a sense of just how impactful those laws will ultimately be. In a tightly contested general election, that could be more than enough to swing the outcome.

Still, theres plenty of reason to see progressivism ascendant in Texas after last nights results, at least within the Democratic Party, and no moderate resurgence to match, despite the moderate wings attempt to lay Bidens failures at the feet of progressives. But those progressive successes might be found more readily in open seats than in contested primaries like years prior. As a retirement wave has set in amongst the Democratic caucuss oldest members, thats reason enough to be hopeful about a distant future. If House Democrats are forced into a minority after November, the composition of the House Democratic caucus will continue to grow more progressive and more assertive.

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Progressives Gain a Foothold in Texas - The American Prospect

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The activist wings of both major political parties entered the Texas primary hoping to shake up state leadership. But as the votes kept rolling in Wednesday morning, it became clear the results would fall short of ushering in a sea change.

Texas top Republicans mostly fended off challengers in the GOP primary Tuesday. Meanwhile, a slate of progressives made inroads in Democratic primaries for Congress but fell short of their goal of an immediate sweep that would reshape Texas U.S. House delegation.

Gov. Greg Abbott decidedly trounced right-wing opponents Don Huffines, a former state senator, and Allen West, former head of the Texas GOP and one-term Florida congressman solidifying his hold on the Texas Republican base. Abbott will face Democratic challenger Beto ORourke, a former El Paso congressman, in the general election after ORourke easily won his partys nomination for governor.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Comptroller Glenn Hegar also cruised to their partys nominations in their reelection bids, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller won his primary race early Wednesday.

At least one sitting GOP statewide incumbent didnt avoid a runoff: Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been under indictment since 2015 and is under investigation by the FBI for accusations that he abused his office to help a campaign donor.

But Paxton snagged the most votes in the crowded primary field. Hell enter what is likely to be the highest-profile Texas runoff of 2022 against Land Commissioner George P. Bush. The race pits a two-term incumbent backed by former President Donald Trump against a member of a Bush family dynasty that stretches back decades in the state.

Republican incumbent Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian was leading his challengers, but it was unclear early Wednesday if he would avoid a runoff.

In the one open statewide seat, state Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, received the most votes in her bid for the GOP nomination for land commissioner. Shell enter a runoff with Tim Westley, a pastor and former congressional candidate. There will also be a runoff on the Democratic side between conservationist Jay Kleberg and Sandragrace Martinez, a relatively unknown candidate who was the top vote recipient.

Meanwhile, the status quo was largely preserved in the Texas Legislature. No state Senate incumbents lost their seats Tuesday night. In the House, one sitting Democrat Art Fierro lost, and no incumbent Republicans were knocked out, though a few were forced into runoffs. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan both saw the vast majority of their favored candidates win primaries in the chambers they preside over.

Abbott took his win as a mandate after conservatives had bashed him for enacting statewide COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic.

"Tonight, Republicans sent a message they want to keep Texas the land of opportunity and prosperity for absolutely everybody, the prosperity that we have delivered over the past eight years," Abbott said at his election night rally in Corpus Christi.

Backed by Trump, he neutralized his challengers by adopting hard-right positions on red-meat issues dear to the Republican base like barring employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and compelling a state agency to open child abuse investigations into parents who reportedly allow their transgender children to access some gender-affirming care.

Abbott responded to those criticisms and took action immediately to shore his right flank up, said Brendan Steinhauser, a GOP strategist and professor of political science at St. Edwards University in Austin. I think you couple that with the power of name ID, approval rating and money, and the other guys nobody really knew who they were and there you go.

Trump also endorsed Paxton. But to Corbin Casteel, a Republican consultant who was Trump's state campaign director, the fact that Paxton faces a runoff is a sign that his alleged misdeeds caught up with him.

He has been an embarrassment to the Republican Party, and voters pay attention, Casteel said.

Paxton has been in this position before, however. In his first campaign for attorney general in 2014, he bested then-state Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas-area Republican, in the primary but not enough to avoid a runoff, in which Paxton prevailed. Paxton also won his 2018 primary and the general election that year while under indictment.

This time, nearly three-fifths of the Republican electorate voted against Paxton. But Bush may have a hard time convincing his voters to turn out for a runoff election in which party activists who back Paxton will be highly motivated to show up, Steinhauser said.

It's the activists that show up, Steinhauser said.

On the Democratic side, a slate of progressive candidates made headway in three congressional races perhaps signaling a new path for Democrats in Texas, political experts said Tuesday night.

Greg Casar, a former Austin City Council member who pushed the city leftward on issues of homelessness and police funding, edged out state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez to be the Democratic nominee in a new congressional district that heavily favors Democrats.

In Dallas, it wasn't determined early Wednesday whether state Rep. Jasmine Crockett who drew U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warrens backing Monday would avoid a runoff in her bid to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who endorsed Crockett.

But the banner race for progressives ended the night with uncertainty in South Texas. Jessica Cisneros, a left-leaning lawyer, trailed U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Democrat from Laredo who has held his seat since 2005. But it was unclear whether the race would go into a runoff; it was too close to call early Wednesday morning. Cisneros, who lost to Cuellar in 2020, had hoped to capitalize on an FBI raid in January on Cuellars home and office to deprive the nine-term congressman of an easy 10th win.

Casar and Cisneros each drew the backing of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who flew to Texas to campaign for them.

To Democratic observers, the trio of progressives made progress, which was an indicator that the states Democratic voters want more stridently progressive and aggressive candidates as Texas Republicans move further to the right. That, in turn, could firm up the partys platform and drive enthusiasm in November, said Manny Garcia, former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party.

They dont play politics as usual from the perspective of, Hey, if were nice to Republicans, maybe well get some crumbs off the table, Garcia said. That approach does exist in Texas. Theres a lot of folks in the Democratic Party that get frustrated by that.

Jen Ramos, a State Democratic Executive Committee member who pressed state party officials for changes after the partys dismal 2020 performance, echoed that.

We have attempted to play it safe for a very long time, Ramos said. And that has not necessarily yielded us the results that we have wanted and has not yielded us the results that weve needed to inspire change.

But a Cisneros victory in particular could spark worries for Democrats. Republicans have made gains in recent years in South Texas, and the nomination of a more progressive Democrat could be seen as an opportunity for the GOP to flip the seat.

Democratic races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and land commissioner are all headed to runoffs because no candidate gained a majority of votes.

As the states streak of low voter turnout during the primaries continued, the first statewide election since Texas enacted sweeping restrictions on voting access was marked by widespread rejection of mail-in ballots and considerable confusion at polls in the states large urban areas like Harris County.

Patrick Svitek contributed reporting.

Disclosure: St. Edwards University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Parties' activist wings see mixed results in Texas as Abbott advances, progressives fall short of goals - The Texas Tribune

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Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was mocked online after comparing herself and progressive Democrats to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people fighting off a Russian invasion.

Abrams made the comparison while speaking with "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah on her second gubernatorial campaign.

"We are a stronger nation when we allow people to participate," Abrams said in the clip that has been picking up steam online.

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams issued a mea culpa for appearing maskless at a Georgia elementary school, posing in photos where everyone but her was following local COVID protocols.

"And if we ever doubted that: The war that Putin is waging against Ukraine, President Zelenskyy said it, and Im going to paraphrase him, probably poorly," the Georgia Democrat continued. "He said this isnt a war on Ukraine, this is a war on democracy in Ukraine."

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Abrams continued, saying it is "wrong" when "we allow democracy to be overtaken by those who want to choose who can be heard, and those choices are not based on anything other than animus or inconvenience."

The Georgia governor candidate was dogpiled online for the comments, with the Heritage Foundations John Cooper blasting Abrams on her signature issue with receipts.

"Should be noted that Ukraine also requires voter ID," Cooper wrote, linking out to Ukrainian legislation.

Other users torched Abrams over the comment, with GOP deputy national press secretary Will OGrady pointing out that the remarks were made on Comedy Central, and Republican communicator Matt Whitlock called the comparison "quite stupid."

Abrams lost to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election for Georgia and became famous in blue circles as she and other Democrats claimed the election was stolen from her.

Trevor Noah arrives at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2020. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

The Georgia Democrat told Axios Monday that she "will acknowledge the victor" in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

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"I will always acknowledge the legal outcome of an election. I have never failed to do that," Abrams said. She also said that she doesn't want the American people to be in a place "where we cannot legitimately question" and criticize systems in an effort to make them better.

Abrams campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digitals request for comment.

Fox News Digitals Hanna Panreck contributed reporting.

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Stacey Abrams mocked after comparing herself, progressives to Zelenskyy and Ukraine - Fox News