Black Republicans energized ahead of midterms
by Cheyanne M. Daniels - 07/04/22 11:30 AM ET
2020 saw Black voters and candidates alike turn out in droves. From Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D) successful campaign in Georgia to Jaime Harrison’s unsuccessful Senate campaign in South Carolina, it seemed Black voters and candidates were lining up on the left.
But while the Democratic Party tends to have a lock on Black voters, that bloc is not a monolith. And Black Republicans are confident their ranks will continue growing ahead of the midterms and the 2024 presidential election.
“So many Black Americans have been raised in a conservative way,” said Paris Dennard, national spokesperson and director of Black media affairs for the Republican National Committee. “When you think about Black conservatism, that is being a strong family. That’s having a lot of faith, being able to work hard and have a strong and safe community.”
This year, Black voters’ support for Republican candidates rose to 27 percent, up from 12 percent in November, according to a March Wall Street Journal poll.
Meanwhile, Dennard said, the RNC tracked more than 160 Black Republicans who filed to run for office; of them, 120 are still running. There were more than 80 who filed to run in the House of Representatives.
“There’s no doubt that come November, the road to retiring [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi is going to be paved with new Black Republicans coming to Congress,” Dennard said.
While the RNC remains neutral in primaries, Dennard mentioned there were several where Black Republicans are running that the RNC has been keeping an eye on over the past year, even in blue states such as Illinois and New York.
One of those candidates was Illinois Republican hopeful Jimmy Lee Tillman. While he only pulled in 5 percent of votes in the June 28 primary, Tillman said he thinks “the future is bright” for Black Republicans.
Being a Black Republican, Tillman said, is a “badge of honor.”
“The Republican Party was the party that fought to free slaves,” he said. “The gains that Black Americans have gotten in this country have always been under a Republican administration, no matter how you might feel about that Republican president.”
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3544050-black-republicans-energized-ahead-of-midterms/
