How Five Black Women Candidates are Shaking Up Georgia Politics
by Nneka M. Okona
In recent years the majority the GOP has held on the state of Georgia, and the South in general, has been loosening, and there’s no better example of this shift than the Georgia Five — a record group of five Black women vying for state office in the state wedged between Alabama and South Carolina.
The list of women, including Doreen Carter, running for secretary of state, Liz Johnson, up for insurance commissioner, former state senator Connie Stokes who is running for lieutenant governor, Robbin Shipp, on the ballot for labor commissioner and Valarie Wilson, up for state school superintendent, runs the full gamut of offices.
Connie Stokes - democratic nominee for Lt. Governor |
This is precisely what the Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics recent study, The Status of Black Women in American Politics, explored.
Doreen Carter -democratic nominee for Georgia Secretary of State. |
The study directly states the overall under representation of Black women in the world of politics and held offices, saying Black women constitute 7.4 percent of the U.S. population and 7.8 percent of the electorate. Despite this, Black women only make up 14 members of Congress, 241 in state legislatures and 26 Black women mayors in cities with populations toping 100,000, the study also states.
Liz Johnson - candidate for insurance commissioner |
All the Georgia Five received endorsements from top democratic figures and progressive groups as a means of support, but data shows a clear disparity in this realm is real and substantiated. And it has a long history.
Valarie Wilson - candidate for state school superintendent |
Similar findings were concluded for open seat winners in 2012, as Black male winners raised $1.4 million compared to only $812,493 raised by Black women.
Robbin Shipp - candidate for Georgia labor commissioner |
Nneka M. Okona is a writer based in Washington, DC. Visit her blog, www.afrosypaella.com, her website, about.me/nnekaokona or follow her tweets, @NisforNneka.
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