August 29, 2018 The Skanner Page 9
News
Black Candidates Win Primaries for Governor in 3 States
an allegation his camp
called absurd.
The nomination of
three Black major-party
candidates for governor
ties the mark set in 2006,
when there were two
black GOP nominees and
Democrat Deval Patrick,
who went on to win elec-
tion in Massachusetts.
By Errin Haines Whack
and Geoff Mulvihill
Associated Press
ith
Andrew
Gillum’s
up-
set victory in
Florida, Black
candidates have won
the Democratic nomi-
nation for governor in
three states this year in
a historic turn largely
attributed to voter back-
lash against President
Donald Trump.
Gillum, Stacey Abrams
in Georgia and Ben Jeal-
ous in Maryland were all
aided in recent months
by strong turnout, espe-
cially among black vot-
ers.
“This moment is de-
fined by the politics of
Trump and the Repub-
lican Party, which are
grounded in bigotry, fear
and racism,” said Adri-
anne Shropshire, exec-
utive director of Black
PAC. “I think voters are
responding to that by
showing up to the polls
as a protest to the politics
that we’re seeing right
now.”
Voters have elected just
two Black governors in
U.S. history — in 2006 in
Massachusetts and 1989
AP PHOTO/STEVE CANNON
W
Andrew Gillum with his wife, R. Jai Gillum at his side addresses his supporters after winning the Democrat
primary for governor on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla.
in Virginia.
Abrams and Jealous
face uphill battles in No-
vember, while Gillum’s
contest is expected to be
close. They will have to
figure out how to trans-
late the enthusiasm
among primary voters
to the general election,
and will have to win over
moderate Democrats, in-
dependents and proba-
bly some Republicans.
The GOP candidates
in Georgia and Florida
are big supporters of
Trump, setting up stark
contrasts in both con-
tests.
“It’s going to be very in-
teresting in Georgia and
Florida with the person-
alities of the Republican
nominees and the tactics
they’ve already taken
and verbiage they’ve
used,” said Kimberly
Peeler-Allen, co-found-
er of Higher Heights for
America PAC, a group
that focuses on Black fe-
male candidates and vot-
ers. “It’s going to be real-
ly ugly before it’s over.”
In fact, race became an
issue in the Florida con-
test on Wednesday, the
morning after the pri-
mary, when Gillum said
voters aren’t looking for
a misogynist, racist or
bigot, and the Republi-
can nominee, Rep. Ron
DeSantis, said Floridians
shouldn’t “monkey this
up” by choosing his Afri-
can-American opponent.
The Florida Democrat-
ic Party decried DeSan-
tis’ comment as racist,
“
It’s going
to be re-
ally ugly
before it’s
over
Abrams, Gillum and
Jealous represent the
more liberal wing of the
Democratic Party, with
backing from Sen. Ber-
nie Sanders, and Repub-
licans are already casting
them as too liberal for
their states. Florida and
Georgia voted for Trump
in 2016, while Maryland
went for Hillary Clinton.
Just hours after Gillum
won his primary, Trump
went on Twitter to call
him “a failed Socialist
Mayor” and point out the
crime rate in the city Gil-
lum leads, Tallahassee.
Abrams, a former
minority leader in the
George House, faces Bri-
an Kemp, Georgia’s sec-
retary of state. Maryland
is more friendly terri-
tory for Democrats, but
Jealous is challenging a
popular incumbent, Re-
publican Larry Hogan.
The Republican Gover-
nors Association plans
to target all three Dem-
ocrats for supporting
expensive social welfare
programs,
spokesman
Jon Thompson said.
“This has nothing to
do with color, gender or
any other identifying
characteristic,” he said.
“This has to do with far-
left policies that would
wreck state budgets and
hurt job growth.”
History also provides
a reality check: Other
black candidates for gov-
ernor with much high-
er profiles have failed
— most notably former
Los Angeles Mayor Tom
Bradley and former At-
lanta Mayor Andrew
Young, who didn’t even
survive his party prima-
ry.
The hope for all three
of this year’s candidates
lies in a surge of turnout
from Black and liber-
See PRIMARIES on page 11
