Midterm Elections

Brian Kemp Resigns As Georgia Secretary Of State

Kemp says he's stepping down to focus on being governor, but the race is still too close to call.

Brian Kemp Resigns As Georgia Secretary Of State
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The Republican candidate for governor in Georgia just resigned as the secretary of state. 

Effective at noon Thursday, Brian Kemp stepped down, saying he wanted to focus on his gubernatorial administration. 

Kemp declared victory over his Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams, but she hasn't conceded. As of Thursday morning, Abrams trailed Kemp by about 62,000 votes, but Georgia is still counting some mail-in and provisional ballots. 

But there's still a chance Kemp and Abrams will head to a runoff. Georgia's state law requires candidates to get at least 50 percent of the vote to win. Kemp's percentage sits at 50.33 percent. 

A handful of Georgia voters filed a last-minute lawsuit to stop Kemp from overseeing the Nov. 6 election because of the conflict of interest, but his resignation likely makes that lawsuit moot. 

Georgia said it plans to have the results of the election finalized by Nov. 14. 

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN