After great political gains
Black American women aspire to be governor of a state
Kamala Harris is the first black woman to be selected as Vice President.
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Mia McLeod.
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Black women go on, saying it's time to move on.
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Stancy Abrams.
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After a year of historic political gains, black women in America are continuing their run for governorships.
They have renewed hope that a female candidate will finally be fortunate to be elected governor in 2022. The 2022 election cycle saw a record number of black women running for office at the state and congressional levels, following the historic election that saw current Vice President Kamala Harris as the first A black woman reaches the position, after Winson Sears finally won the position of assistant governor of Virginia.
In the 2022 midterm elections, 53 black women applied to run for state office, according to a tally organized by Rutgers University's Center for American Women in Politics, with eight already in the race, which could result in one winning state governorship, becoming the first black woman in the country. History of the United States, she is elected to this office.
The center also stated that there are 145 black women who have applied or indicated their intention to run for Congress, a record number after 130 black women applied to run for the 2020 elections.
Challenges on the way
But amid all this optimism, challenges remain for those women who are ready to run for governor, most of whom are Democrats.
Some of them work in mostly Republican states, and because of that they face more inequality when it comes to fundraising compared to popular candidates in those states.
They also face a difficult political season, as inflation, rising gas prices and President Joe Biden's low approval ratings threaten the narrow majority of Democrats in Congress.
Nonetheless, many of them are adamant that it is time for black women to take the lead in statewide races.
Determined to continue the journey
In 2018, Stacey Abrams lost her race to become governor of Georgia.
Nearly four years later, her agonizing loss to Republican Brian Kemp is still fresh in the hearts of many of her ardent supporters.
And while Democrats across the country face a tough spot in this year's midterm elections, Abrams will likely be their best hope of supporting a black woman to become governor for the first time in the country's 246-year history.
"I am proud to be a black woman whose experience, qualifications, and efforts can help her reach the position of Governor of Georgia," she told the media during the election campaign earlier this spring.
I see it as important.”
Abrams says she is not only running to be Georgia's next CEO, but she is running to draw attention to the importance of racial representation in society.
"I grew up in a society where I don't see people who look like me, and these people are expected to be governor, mayor, or CEO, and my responsibility is to pay attention to what is possible, and it is my duty to work towards that goal."
Abrams, a former minority leader in the state assembly, was unknown outside Georgia four years ago, but is now one of the most popular and influential Democrats in the country.
According to one of her former aides, this time her campaign has a lot of resources.
“What has changed in her campaign is simply, that she now has more resources, a bigger budget, and more lights,” Abrams spokeswoman Abigail Collazo said in 2018.
Abrams' campaign volume was $7.2 million in the bank as of Jan. 31, according to a February campaign filing, much more than the $461,000 it disclosed at the same time four years ago.
As of April 30, her campaign reported that she had raised more than $20 million, and had more than $8 million in the bank.
Articulated battle
While Abrams has overcome fundraising hurdles and emerges as the likely winning candidate in the fall, other black candidates for governor are facing an even fiercer battle in Republican states.
Among them is former Oklahoma Senator Connie Johnson, who faces the white candidate, the state's superintendent of public education and the former Republic, Joy Hofmeister, in the Democratic primary.
The two black candidates, Deidre Deger and Yolanda Flowers, are also facing off against Democrats in Iowa and Alabama, respectively;
Democrat Carneta Atwater and Independent Constance Ivery in Tennessee, and Independent Deirdre Gilbert in Texas.
And in Democratic-leaning Illinois, black candidate Beverly Miles is challenging Governor JP Pritzker in the Democratic primary.
Deger, a businesswoman, says fundraising is a challenge.
"We've been able to do a lot with what little we have, and I think people are used to seeing women of color, they can do a lot with what little they have."
Her campaign raised $419,000.
This is Deger's second attempt at the highest state level position.
She previously unsuccessfully ran for Secretary of State in 2018 at the age of 32, but she made history as the first black candidate to be nominated by a major political party for a statewide office, in Iowa.
She pledges, if elected governor, to improve the state's education system and provide mental health care.
Johnson says she has been disappointed with the state's Democratic leadership for not supporting a candidate who "made the most important policy recommendation of the century on cannabis in Oklahoma," for herself.
Some female candidates also say the lack of support from the Democratic Party has been an obstacle.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation, a nonpartisan research group focused on women in politics, has consistently revealed that voters prefer women to the state legislature than to executive positions.
The statewide races pose significant challenges for black candidates, says CAWB senior researcher Kira Sanbonmatsu.
"Historically, black women have not been recognized as capable candidates for these positions, so their absence from these positions makes it difficult to break the next cycle," she added.
She added that "informal vigilantes," from donors to state party leaders, often stand in the way of black progress.
out of the race
More than a year into the campaign in Massachusetts, Danielle Allen ended her bid for governor in February, shortly after the state's attorney general, Maura Healy, entered the race.
While acknowledging the challenges that black women - and women in general - face when running for governor, Allen said she was glad that the Democratic Governors Association took no side in the primaries, and found her advice useful for her campaign.
“I am very proud of the fact that, following my nomination, three black women have run for office in Massachusetts for the highest statewide office, and they have all made it to the polls,” Allen says.
Democracy storms the Republican House
In the red state of South Carolina, a metaphor for Republicans, a Democratic candidate for governor has not been elected since 1998, but despite this, the state's senator, Mia MacLeod, black, ran for governor, in an open confrontation with what she described as the "old guard." » to state policy.
MacLeod, who has served in the South Carolina legislature since 2011, says she has a track record of winning elections, despite well-funded Republican opposition.
But her winning streak waned earlier this month, after she lost to former MP Joe Cunningham in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Prior to her defeat, MacLeod asserted that her clear vision of her ability to run was not shared by the mainstream media or the NDP apparatus, but she acknowledged that the political landscape had changed in some ways.
Amazing progression for black women
Since 2018, a record number of black women have campaigned at all levels.
The House of Representatives currently has 23 black women members, more than any other racial minority in the country, and they serve as mayors in eight of the 100 largest cities in the United States.
However, there are no black women in the Senate, and a black female governor has never been appointed.
Record number of black women running for governor in 2022
More than a dozen black women have run for governor, the highest number ever recorded in a US election, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.
At least eight female candidates remain in the race as the primaries continue.
If any of the black women candidates win in November, she will mark a historic feat as the first black woman elected governor.
And over the past year, black women have shattered the glass ceiling from the White House to the Supreme Court.
With the midterm elections looming, a record number of African American women are running behind the history train, hoping to break other barriers in November as well.
Although Democrats across the country face a tough spot in this year's midterm elections, Abrams will likely be their best hope of supporting a black woman to become governor for the first time in the country's history.
Historically, black women have not been recognized as viable gubernatorial candidates, so their absence from these positions makes it difficult to break the next cycle.
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