In the nine years since Nykidra Robinson launched Black Girls Vote, she’s never felt the type of momentum she experienced this week around her mission to get more Black women and girls involved in the political process.
The likelihood that Vice President Kamala Harris will become the Democratic presidential nominee, after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, has sparked a jolt of enthusiasm that had been sorely lacking, Robinson and other activists and leaders in Maryland said this week.
“We have gotten so many calls, so many emails from young Black girls [and] women all over to ask, ‘How can I get involved?’” Robinson said.
Robinson’s Baltimore-based nonprofit is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse or campaign for specific candidates — including Harris, who would become the first Black woman to lead a major party ticket or win the presidency.
But the booming interest in the early days of Harris’ campaign suggests that many Democrats in Maryland — a heavily Democratic state with one of the most diverse populations in the country — were rejuvenated by the new face of the party, someone whose life experience and career are unlike anyone else who’s won the White House.
“Kamala Harris always seemed like the obvious choice to me. She is the person who is most qualified, who is battle tested,” said Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, a Montgomery County Democrat. “And being a woman — and a Black woman — adds to the inspiration and the excitement and the energy that we’re seeing across the country.”
Wilkins chairs Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus , the largest Black caucus of state lawmakers nationwide. She was an early supporter of Harris for the presidential nomination four years ago and, after Biden selected her as a running mate, started a “ Maryland #KHive ” group along with Prince George’s County Council Member Wanika Fisher.
With a name inspired by Beyoncé’s “Beyhive,” the group culminated in mostly virtual gatherings of Harris fans during the pandemic-riddled election.
“This is the power of diversity, having everybody’s experience count,” Wilkins said in one of its 2020 virtual meetings while holding a rum punch, which she said was a nod to both her and Harris’ Jamaican descent.
Wilkins and Fisher each said they talked about bringing back the “#KHive” this week. Fisher said the goal was not only to help mobilize voters but to defend Harris’ record as Republicans turn their attention to her.
Biden won Maryland in 2020 with more than twice as many votes as Republican Donald Trump, and no Republican presidential candidate has won the state since George H.W. Bush in 1988. Despite widespread concerns about his age and ability to defeat Trump again, Biden likely would have won Maryland handily, political analysts say.
Harris, though, gives the party a chance at firing up its base in a new way, possibly expanding what would have been Biden’s margin in Maryland and inspiring the state’s Democratic base to travel to swing states.
“Now I’ve got my residents being like, ‘Hey, Wanika, can I go help door-knock in Virginia, which is a swing state? Can I make calls? I was not getting that for Joe,” said Fisher, who was dubbed “Maryland’s Kamala” by a colleague in 2020 because both she and Harris are former prosecutors who are half-Black and half-Indian American. “That’s what you’re going to see in a state like Maryland that goes really blue. It’s the fact that we’re going to be excited to get our neighbors involved”
That message is already coming from the highest levels of Maryland politics. In a 90-minute zoom call Wednesday night hosted by Black Girls Vote and featuring several prominent Black women activists, Maryland First Lady Dawn Moore recalled driving to South Philadelphia with friends in 2008. They knew then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama was going to win Maryland, so they campaigned where they thought they were needed more.
“Women are organizing, and we know that when we organize, we move mountains,” said Moore, the first Black woman to serve as Maryland’s first lady.
Gov. Wes Moore’s election two years ago as the state’s first and the country’s only current Black governor was part of a historic year in Maryland , where the white population dipped to under 50% for the first time after the 2020 census. Moore’s running mate, Aruna Miller , became the first immigrant and Asian American to serve as lieutenant governor. Anthony Brown became the first Black attorney general. Brooke Lierman became the first woman directly elected to statewide office and serve as comptroller. This year, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks would be the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland if she defeats Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan .
“Diversity isn’t isn’t just a happenstance in Maryland, it’s a choice,” Fisher said. “And let’s be real clear, mainstream Marylanders, white Marylanders and others choose these diverse candidates based on their resume, not just their diversity.”
U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume called the state a “political bellwether when it comes to diverse members and parts of the electorate,” and said that Black women have been the group more than any other in recent decades of presidential races to secure wins for Democratic nominees.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was emphasizing the same point in the days before Biden dropped out , saying Black women had “saved this country in election after election.” Once Harris appeared likely to secure the nomination this week, Scott said he was inundated with texts and calls from women in Baltimore, many of them Black, who were excited. He said he participated in a nationwide call with Black men who were mobilizing support — a call that followed an initial 44,000-person Zoom call held by Win With Black Women on the night of Biden’s announcement.
“We know what’s at stake here,” Scott said. “My job is to put pressure on Black men and send a message to them that we cannot allow a Black woman to be [degraded] and disrespected in the way they already are.”
Flavio Hickel Jr., an assistant professor of political science at Washington College, said it’s true that Black women have historically been the most committed supporters of the Democratic Party, and the most consistent with voting and on-the-ground organizing. But it’s also important not to overgeneralize and assume they or any other community will automatically support Harris. Economic issues, social issues and more can outweigh other interests, he said.
“One of the big narratives in the national election here is the changing perspective of Latino and Black men,” said Hickel, referring to Republicans’ push to expand among the 35% of Hispanic voters and 8% of Black voters that Trump won in 2020. “And the big takeaway that scholars like me have been saying forever is this is not a homogeneous group.”
Hickel warned against giving too much weight to polls of specific racial or ethnic groups but said the tide has certainly shifted in favor of Democrats.
A CNN poll conducted after Biden dropped out found Harris improving over Biden in a number of ways — including 78% support from Black voters compared to 70% for Biden, and 50% from women compared to 46% for Biden.
While Biden struggled to communicate his policy priorities and achievements, Fisher and others said, Harris will be able to better connect with Black men and women on policy. Several mentioned women’s reproductive rights and health care in particular, including the higher rates of maternal and infant mortality among Black women. Student loan forgiveness, affordable housing and Maryland-specific priorities — like keeping Biden’s commitments to fund the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge or bring the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt — are also on the list.
“It’s not that other candidates don’t also think those things are important,” Fisher said. “It’s the weight that it’ll carry with Kamala that’ll be different than anybody else, which makes it exciting.”
Baltimore Sun reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this report.
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