Donna Brazile, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, stated that this may be a time when we can even the playing field. I believe Black candidates have shown more and more that they are talented but didn't have enough resources to compete... this is the future. This is what Dr. Martin Luther King and his generation envisioned.
Individual Black candidates may have had strong fundraising results in the past but there has never been a quarter with such a high number of fundraisers. Former football star Herschel Walk, Warnock's Republican leading challenger, raised $3.8 million during his first five weeks of campaigning. The fundraising quarter that ran from July to September saw Cheri Beasley (a former judge at the North Carolina Supreme Court), bring in $1.5 million.
Glynda Car, founder and CEO at Higher Heights, which supports Black female Democratic candidate candidates, points out that Demings and Beasley are proof of concept.
Carr stated that we continue to show the highest return on investment. There are more institutions and donors supporting Black women, and we see them more often. We are moving in the right direction.
These outstanding numbers were not limited to the South. Charles Booker, a Kentucky former state legislator, was just coming off a defeat in the 2020 Senate Democratic Primary. He was financially outgunned and raised $1.7 million. In Wisconsin, Democratic Lieutenant Governor. Mandela Barnes raised $1.1 million from his crowded Senate primary. This was more than the two wealthy white primary opponents who had to borrow huge amounts of money to reach the $1 million mark.
The [candidate] pipeline seems to be there, I believe. Kevin Harris, a Democratic strategist who was also the former executive director for the Congressional Black Caucus, stated that there has been a new interest in funding African American candidates and watching where it goes. This has never happened.
Former Democratic lawmaker Mike Espy, a former Democratic lawmaker, can attest to the difficulties Black candidates have faced in the past after losing Senate bids for 2018 and 2020 in Mississippi. When he was informed about the new numbers, Espy replied: They're going to need it.
He lost to Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith in 2020. This is a very close margin for a Democrat from Mississippi. Espy hired a data company to analyze his performance. POLITICO received the results from that study which Espy shared to POLITICO. They showed that Mississippi's voter registration declined by 1% despite an increase in South-South voter engagement.
Espy gave his complete donor list to the state party in order to build momentum for the next Black Democrat candidate for statewide office.
Espy stated that he was always required to knock down doors and push the rock up the hill like Sisyphus. He also said that if he had more resources, he could be serving in the Senate.
Espy said that if there had been money early enough to identify the deficit in January, I could have pulled off a voter registration drive. I could have engaged the voters in the kind of way that would convince them to register.
Interviews with over a dozen candidates, strategists, and party activists have shown that there is no one explanation for the latest fundraising results.
Many Black candidates are challenging highly polarizing, high-profile opponents. This is a surefire way to increase campaign funds. The 2022 crop is also building upon the successes of other prominent Black candidates, including former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Hariri, Warnock, and Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight political action committee, which has raised over $100 million since her 2018 defeat to Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
They also enjoy the increased attention to systemic racism that has resulted from protests following George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis in 2020.
We saw many Black candidates do well during that period, with donations surging candidates such as Charles Booker, according to Nabilah Islam (a strategist and former DNC fundraiser). There is certainly white guilt.
The flood of small donations online has made it possible to raise significant funds in the off-year, which was months before the campaign began in earnest. Many candidates, who don't have access to large-donor networks and high-dollar events, are now able to stockpile their treasuries using thousands of small digital donations.
Booker boasts that 98 per cent of his third quarter haul was from grassroots donors. He also highlighted 55,000 contributions. Booker said that his early fundraising strengths allow him to secure his position as a frontrunner for the Kentucky Democratic primary. This advantage is something he didn't have in 2020 when the party merged with Amy McGrath. Booker plans to invest in marketing and a targeted field operation to mobilize rural voters. He can now afford another tour bus to reach them.
It should be viewed as an investment. Booker stated that organizing was the key to winning those Georgia Senate seats. We are working to create infrastructure for the long-term. Instead of spending all the money on national advertisements, which is fine, we need to put more money into the ground.
Booker has sought the advice of Jaime Harrison, current DNC Chair, who raised over $100 million for his unsuccessful 2020 challenge against South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Harrison's fundraising skills have made him an invaluable resource for Black Senate candidates. He offers staff tips and fundraising tips.
Harrison stated that I share this information with those who call me and ask Harrison how he did it.
The DNC chair discusses best fundraising practices with them and helps them to shape a campaign strategy. One of his former senior advisors is now helping run Demings campaign.
Harrison points out that Black candidates have not been the first choice for party leadership in competitive primaries until now. Harrison's own experiences led him to develop a powerful strategy. He focused on digital advertising and social networking to bypass the exclusions that Black candidates once faced in fundraising circles.
It was a key part of my secret sauce, and Lindsey Graham probably picked it up on the Republican side. How to build a grassroots donor pool. Harrison explained how to tap into this type of energy in order fund your campaign. There are many things you can do. You will be able to see the difference.
Despite the recent fundraising results, there is no guarantee that Black senators will win the midterm elections. For example, Bookers' haul in Kentucky was less than half the $4 million that Rand Paul, an incumbent GOP senator, pulled in. It has been many years since a Kentucky Democrat lost a Senate race by a single digit.
The two Black candidates for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania's open Senate seat race were Sharif Street and Malcolm Kenyatta. Kathy Barnette, a MAGA Candidate and regular contributor to conservative media, was also on the Republican side.
There is still a lot to do in terms of under-representation. We need to have one Black woman as our president. Quentin James founded and presided over the Collective PAC. The Collective PAC supports progressive Black candidates for office and has endorsed three nonincumbent Black Democratic Senate nominees. We still have a lot of work to do.
To prepare for this moment, the Collective PAC and a few Black political operatives have been fundraising and organizing. The organizations have also been helping to train and staff campaigns. They are trying to challenge the notion that Black politicians will not represent all their constituents.
There's a fundamental shift in how people think about who can win elections. Now it's not just the boring white guy, it's the other person, stated Islam, a former DNC fundraiser. We need someone who is exciting. That's why I believe that many Black candidates such as Warnock, Val Demings, Herschel Walker, and Tim Scott are doing well.
