Black Women Candidates Successfully Navigate The Primary Season With Little Help From The Democratic Establishment

In 2012, Lavangelene “Vangie” Williams contacted her congressman, Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman, to request information about having an environmental inspection of her home. Williams’ toddler daughter had a rare medical condition that’s affected by environmental factors, such as third-hand smoke. The congressman and his staff, however, practically ignored her letters and visits to his district office.

Vangie Williams / ione digital

“So, six years ago, I decided I was going to run for Congress because he does nothing for the district,” Williams told NewsOne recently, recalling the frustration, anger and determination she felt.

True to her word, Williams defeated two military veterans in June to win the Democratic nomination to challenge Wittman in the November general election. A win would make her the first African-American woman to represent Virginia’s first congressional district.

As a Black woman, Williams has had to face a unique set of challenges that her white, male counterparts typically have the privilege of not worrying about, such as routine and obligatory support from the Democratic establishment. In spite of the odds, a number of resourceful Black women candidates have emerged victorious as serious contenders expected to usher in a new era of politics come November.

You would think that they would recognize that 'hey, this is a supporter now we should support the supporter' and help lift my name up. I made history during the primary.

“It’s a sad state when you expect that the organizations that I’ve supported—the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and the Democratic Party—don’t support you,” Williams said matter of factly. “You would think that they would recognize that ‘hey, this is a supporter now we should support the supporter’ and help lift my name up. I made history during the primary.”

getty/ ione digital

Indeed, Williams had to do it all on her own. Part of her secret weapon was a grassroots campaign that included contacting family members who live throughout the district.

“My team hit the ground. We knocked on 10,000 doors for the primaries. We ran a campaign on less than $60,000. DCCC wasn’t offering any help,” she noted.

ATLANTA, GA - MAY 22: Supporters of Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, cheer during a primary election night event on May 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. If elected, Abrams would become the first African American female governor in the nation. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

The Washington-based DCCC is the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, dedicated to supporting the Party’s House candidates “every step of the way to victory,” according to its website. However, the organization has come under fire for its lack of support to Black women even though DCCC Chairman Tom Perez has said they are “the backbone of the Democratic Party.”

NewsOne contacted the DCCC and the Congressional Black Caucus-Political Action Committee (CBC-PAC) but did not receive immediate responses.

National Black politicians have also been slow to endorse African-American women.

“It took a lot for us to get endorsements from Black leaders. I think it’s a cycle. If you’re not in the news, if you’re not out there being loud, they don’t know that you exist,” Williams said, noting that most of the Black congresswomen and several congressmen have stepped up.

Historical exclusion and marginalization from the political system is the starting point to understanding the challenges, Kelly Dittmar, a Rutgers University political science professor and scholar at the school’s Center for American Women and Politics, said during a phone conversation.

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 4: Saritin Rizzuto cheers during the Ayanna Pressley for Congress campaign primary night celebration at IBEW Local 103, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston on Sep. 4, 2018. Ayanna Pressley is a Boston City Councilor and Democratic candidate for the Massachusetts Seventh Congressional District. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“The faces of power have been so male and so white for so long, voters have to adjust their thinking about the leadership abilities of Black women,” she added.

A shift in thinking was also needed among Democratic Party leaders, Dittmar said. By-and-large, movers and shakers in the Party bypass Black women when recruiting candidates and don’t grant access to the political network that help raise funds. In addition, Party strategists relegate t Black women candidates to majority-minority districts, which reveals doubts they can appeal to white voters, Dittmar explained.

It doesn’t get any easier for seasoned Black female politicians with a proven ability to win elections.

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Ayanna Pressley made history in 2009 by becoming the first woman of color ever elected to the Boston City Council. Nine years later, she unseated U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano, a 10-term incumbent Democrat, in the Massachusetts primary earlier this month. But it was an uphill climb, as Capuano received the endorsement of the CBC-PAC.

Pressley, who described herself as a faithful “foot soldier” for Democrats for years, said she didn’t expect any support of consequence from the national Party.

“I was not surprised, mostly because I knew what I was embarking upon, that this would likely be a lonely, uphill, and bruising journey,” Pressley said shortly before her victory. “We’re doing something disruptive, challenging conventional wisdom, narratives and norms about who has a right to run, when you can run, and whether or not you can win.”

We’re doing something disruptive, challenging conventional wisdom, narratives and norms about who has a right to run, when you can run, and whether or not you can win.

Her progressive campaign enabled Pressley to be competitive in her congressional race. She earned coveted endorsements from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, as well as a stamp of approval from the Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Polls, which often undercount low-income and minority communities, consistently placed her as the underdog but within striking distance of pulling off an upset.

“As a candidate of color and as a woman, I’ve always been out-fundraised and out-spent, and at times even out-endorsed, so that’s not a new dynamic for me,” she said. “I’ve had to learn to run lean and mean and to be nimble, and the fact I’ve had to run every two years is testament to my grassroots strength.”

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Glynda C. Carr, a co-founder of Higher Heights, an organization that helps elect Black women to political office, said she wasn’t surprised by the recent wave of successful African-American female candidates.

“Black women have always navigated around obstacles,” Carr explained. “From Harriet Tubman to Sojourner Truth to Shirley Chisholm to my grandmother, who figured out how to feed a house full of people. Black women have always been resourceful in our day-to-day lives to our political lives. We’re coalition builders. We inspire our networks to volunteer.”

She predicted that with the growing number of primary victories, including Stacey Abrams’ historic bid for Georgia governor, future generations will look back at 2018 as a watershed moment.

“This year it’s about showing that Black women are viable candidates and that we can run in districts that other people doubted that we could win,” she said.