Title African American statewide candidates in the new South / Charles S. Bullock, III, Susan A. MacManus, Jeremy D. Mayer, and Mark J. Rozell

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] ©2022

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Description 1 online resource : illustrations Contents Introduction : Black statewide candidacies in the South -- Georgia : Stacey Abrams's bid to become America's first Black woman governor comes up short -- Florida : Andrew Gillum narrowly loses bid to become state's first black governor -- Virginia : African American statewide candidates navigate a complicated past (and present) -- South Carolina : Jaime Harrison comes up well short -- Raphael Warnock : Black Democratic breakthrough -- How African American candidates navigate the Southern Democratic primaries : from Chisholm and Jackson, to Obama and today -- Conclusion : the future for African American statewide candidates in the South Summary "African American candidates for statewide office in the US continue to face unique challenges given the nation's complicated racial dynamics. At the dawn of the 21st century, the US had elected only one African American as governor in its history - L. Douglas Wilder, a grandson of slaves who achieved this historic goal in 1989 in Virginia, once the capital of the Confederacy. Numerous media accounts at the time declared a major breakthrough in racial politics in the US with one national news magazine actually featuring in bold type on its cover "The End of the Civil War". More than thirty years since Wilder's election, while black candidates have risen to office in states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, and California, there are not many successes for African American candidates seeking statewide office in the South. This is particularly puzzling because blacks are most numerous in the South, as a percentage of the population. This book includes analyses of the campaigns of mostly unsuccessful and some successful black statewide candidates in the South. The purpose is to untangle the factors that lead to electoral success for these candidates, and those that continue to hold them back. We have the vantage of recent election cycles with some historically close races in the South featuring African American candidates for governor of Florida and Georgia (2018), for lieutenant governor in Virginia (2017), and for the US Senate in South Carolina and Georgia (2020). But statewide contests are not limited to state offices; some of the most important Southern campaigns in the 21st century have featured black candidates running in the Southern presidential primaries. Most notably, Barack Obama's insurgent campaign for the nomination in 2008 blazed a trail in the South that many believed was a template for a new style of black politics. Examining broader regional demographic and political trends, the authors project that the South is on the threshold of a major breakthrough for African American statewide candidates, which will have a substantial role in not only fundamentally changing the political dynamics of the region, but nationally as well. This change will be driven not only by African American candidates and voters, but a rising coalition regionally of minorities and also white voters increasingly willing to vote for black candidates"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academics, viewed February 7, 2023) Subject United States. Congress. Senate -- Elections SUBJECT United States. Congress. Senate fast Subject African American political candidates -- Southern States -- History -- 21st century Elections -- Southern States -- History -- 21st century Political campaigns -- Southern States -- History -- 21st century Governors -- Southern States -- Election African American political candidates Elections Governors -- Election Political campaigns Politics and government SUBJECT Southern States -- Politics and government -- 1951- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85125659 Subject Southern States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book Author MacManus, Susan A., author. Mayer, Jeremy D., author. Rozell, Mark J., author. LC no. 2021035242 ISBN 0197607454 9780197607442 0197607446 9780197607466 0197607462 9780197607459

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