Black Women Sweep Local Elections in Small Towns [View all]

Last week, as the nation focused on New York City’s mayoral election and gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, there was an intergenerational movement of Black people in small cities and rural towns shaking up local elections, too. Democrats secured major victories, also dominating in state houses like in Mississippi, where Democrats broke a Republican supermajority in the Senate. Election Day wins for non-career politicians in local elections are a partial response to voter disillusionment with the federal government.

Whether it’s Roxboro, North Carolina, or Vineyard, Utah, everyday Black people aren’t waiting for progress to come to them, but driving it themselves and redefining what political power looks like outside of major cities.

Young, 35, believes the fire she’s seeing in her town, and across the country, is partially a response to the Trump administration’s decisions, and it’s forced young people to step into their power – by running for offices or voting new people in.

“They’re tired. Let’s just be for real, it’s always on our backs as the Black people to endure, but it’s always on our backs as well to make the change, to inspire the change,” she said. “We didn’t show up in protest. We showed up at the polls.”


https://capitalbnews.org/rural-elections-millennials-historic-wins/