• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
#BlackWomenLead: Meet Black Women In Down-Ballot Races Across The Country
By Kirsten West Savali · Updated December 6, 2020
Home · Politics

#BlackWomenLead: Meet Black Women In Down-Ballot Races Across The Nation

By Kirsten West Savali·Updated December 6, 2020
Rallying cries of “trust Black women” and “listen to Black women” have shaped the contours of 2020 politics in historic, strategic ways.

Black women have long been acknowledged as the backbone of the Democratic Party, but 2020 has proved to be the election cycle where many Black women are unapologetic about demanding to be the head.

From Higher Heights’ #BlackWomenLead movement, to African American Policy Forum’s “From the Base to the Face” series, to Black Women Roundtable’s and ESSENCE’s “Power of the Sister Vote” survey, rallying cries of “trust Black women” and “listen to Black women” have shaped the contours of 2020 politics in historic, strategic ways. Sen. Kamala Harris, the first Black and Asian-American woman to be nominated as the vice-presidential candidate of a major political party, is evidence of that—as are down-ballot races across the country.

Currently, 24 Black women are serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, making up 4.3% of all state legislators and nearly 15% of all women state legislators. According to the Center of American Women and Politics (CAWP), at least 130 Black women—98 Democrats and 32 Republicans—were congressional candidates in 2020 primary contests. That number included 117 Black women candidates—89 Democrats, 28 Republicans—for the U.S. House and 13 Black women candidates—9 Democrats, 4 Republicans—for the U.S. Senate. CAWP reports that “this is the largest number of Black women candidates who have run for the House or Senate, overall and in both parties, in a single election year.” Further, Black women are a larger percentage of all women running for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in 2020.

#BlackWomenLead: Meet Black Women In Down-Ballot Races Across The Country
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 13: Cori Bush attends “Knock Down The House” Red Carpet Premiere – 2019 SFFILM at Castro Theatre on April 13, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Netflix)

At least 61 Black women—48 Democrats and 13 Republicans—will be on ballots across the nation in November, and during one of the most pivotal elections in recent U.S. political history, the time for leadership that centers our lived experiences and those of the broader Black community is now. 

“People are becoming more comfortable with seeing different kinds of people in Congress. You don’t know what it looks like to have powerful Black women in Congress until you see powerful Black women in Congress,” Pam Keith, a Navy veteran and attorney who is running in the Democratic primary for a Florida congressional seat, told NBC News.

This is also a historic year for Asian or Pacific Islander (API), Latina, Middle Eastern or North African (MENA), Indigenous, and/or multiracial women, according to Tides.org, with each group running for Congressional races in record number. 

“There will be a resistance to your ambition. There will be people who say to you, ‘You are out of your lane,'” Harris said during the Black Girls Lead 2020 conference. “They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don’t you let that burden you…I want you to be ambitious.” 

In the video below, ESSENCE highlights ambitious women of color running for office in 2020. Become familiar with their faces. Become familiar with their names. 

Get very familiar with seeing Black women and other women of color in positions of power.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now