As voters awaited the results of the presidential election, the outcomes of a handful of U.S. House and Senate races have already started to reshape Congress in ways that could have huge ramifications for Black Americans.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks have been elected as the fourth and fifth Black women to win a Senate seat. With wins from Alsobrooks, Rochester, and House Reps. Nikema Williams, Summer Lee, Shontel Brown, and Jasmine Crockett, Tuesday’s election has already started to expand the ranks of African Americans who successfully sought seats in Congress.
The new faces could also affect the passage of crucial legislation affecting issues such as health care, reproductive rights, and environmental laws that have a particular relevance to Black communities across the country.
Black women have historically helped form the grassroots backbone of the Democratic Party. So it’s no coincidence that Delaware, a small, Democratic-leaning state, produced perhaps the most likely prospect for a Black woman to be elected to the Senate this cycle.
Some 55% of adults in the state lean Democratic, according to the Pew Research Center. Both chambers of the Delaware state legislature are dominated by Democrats.
“We suspect that Black women are motivated by nonpartisan factors, including their commitment to democratic principles, measured by their higher levels of civic duty,” academic researchers Christine Slaughter, Chaya Crowder, and Christina Greer wrote in Black Women: Keepers of Democracy, the Democratic Process, and the Democratic Party. “Black women’s entrenchment in the Democratic Party reflects their commitment to advancing justice for Black communities from an intersectional lens.”
Here are the races that Capital B has been keeping a particularly close eye on:
Indiana
Valerie McCray did not win her race to become the first Black woman to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate. As a recent poll predicted, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican who currently represents Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, had a significant lead over McCray prior to Election Day.
Georgia
Rep. Nikema Williams easily reclaimed her U.S. House seat with nearly 90% of the vote. She represents the 5th Congressional District of Georgia.
This story will be updated.
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