Democrats are wondering whether Black candidates are "electable"
2 Min Read
Democrats rely on Black voters to mobilize them for the elections, but a question being asked in some circles is whether or not Black candidates can win statewide races.
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Joe Biden attends a service at Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, S.C., on July 7, 2019.
Democrats, who have an image of being more accepting or progressive than Republicans, rely on Black voters and their mobilization in their elections, but the same doesn't go for candidates, as Black candidates in 2022 are "plagued", according to an Axios report, with questions surrounding their "electability".
Despite there being an unprecedented representation of the Black community in government, with there currently being 57 Black US House members, and a Black vice president, electability questions are still persisting despite Black voters boosting Democrats.
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However, conversations with over a dozen Black candidates, campaign staff and strategists netted the following: The skepticism around Black candidates' electability doesn't usually come from voters, but instead from donors, state party leaders, and DC pundits.
An e-mail by the Democratic Party Deputy Treasurer for Maryland, Barbara Goldberg Goldman, a longtime party donor, was leaked, in which she explained the reasoning behind her endorsement of Tom Perez for governor of Maryland over three Black candidates, wherein she claims that Perez was "more electable than the others."
"Consider this: Three African-American males have run statewide for Governor and have lost. Maryland is not a Blue state. It's a purple one. This is a fact we must not ignore. In the last 20 years, only eight have been with a Democratic Governor. We need a winning team. IMHO."
The reasoning is the same for donors who are unwilling to fund new candidates, or candidates themselves who think they won't be elected because of their constituency rather than the content of their political agenda.
