By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis By — Casey Kuhn Casey Kuhn Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/a-record-number-of-black-candidates-are-running-on-gop-tickets-this-midterm-season-heres-why-that-matters Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter A record number of Black candidates are running on GOP tickets this midterm season. Here’s why that matters Politics Nov 2, 2022 1:37 PM EDT The 2022 midterm elections have drawn a record number of Black Republican candidates running for Congress. It’s a remarkable turn in an election season marred by the increasing embrace of racist rhetoric and policies by GOP lawmakers and candidates. The National Republican Congressional Committee says 28 Black candidates have made it past the nomination process this election season, down from 80 at the start. By contrast, there are just three Black Republicans currently in Congress — the largest number to serve simultaneously since Reconstruction. During Reconstruction, it was fairly common to have five to seven Black Republicans in Congress at a time, according to Theodore Johnson, a fellow at the policy think tank New America. Watch the conversation between the PBS NewsHour’s Nicole Ellis and Theodore Johnson in the player above. If elected, this year’s Black Republican candidates could break those Reconstruction records. The difference this time is the demography of the voters supporting them. Black Republicans that ran during reconstruction were often voted in by newly enfranchised Black men, Johnson said, adding that Black Republicans today are being voted in by a predominantly white conservative base. Risks of political violence and voter intimidation loom over midterms The large number of Black candidates this election season, despite the increasingly racist climate, likely results from the sweeping success of the MAGA movement, according to Johnson. It is easier, he said, for minority candidates to win primaries when a party is captured by a movement, “because MAGA red speaks louder than the color of one’s skin.” The increase in Black GOP candidates comes at a time when Republican candidates are increasingly embracing racist policies and rhetoric. One notable recent example was Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who last month suggested that Black Americans support crime. Many Black Republican candidates are trying to dissociate themselves from that kind of rhetoric by excusing remarks about Black people as a group as examples of failed Democratic policies, Johnson said. Others agree with the rhetoric, seeing themselves as exceptional and therefore exempt from such remarks. Black voters, Johnson said, are adept at discerning the dog whistles of racist rhetoric. And polling indicates that even when a Black Republican is on the ballot, the vast majority of Black voters still vote Democrat. A Pew Research survey from August found that 70 percent of registered Black voters said they would vote for the Democratic candidate in the House race in the upcoming election, compared with just 6 percent of registered Black voters who said they would vote for the Republican candidate in the race. On the issues, there is a disconnect between Black voters and GOP stances. A recent Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey from October, for example, showed that only 14 percent of Black voters believed that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent — a claim on which many Republicans have been campaigning ahead of the midterms. By contrast, 34 percent of white voters believe the “Big Lie” of a stolen election, according to the same survey. One issue that does seem to resonate for conservative Black male voters is immigration, in part because of competition for jobs. “There’s an attempt to weaponize that tension between Black folks and Hispanic immigrants in particular,” Johnson said. 55,000 people with prior felony convictions can now vote in North Carolina. Here’s what that means for the midterms “Some of this rhetoric may resonate with a very small cohort of Black voters, just as it has with a particular cohort of Republican voters. But … in the main, this is pushing Black folks away from the Republican Party,” Johnson said, adding that weaponizing the tension on immigration is “not a winning message.” The PBS NewsHour’s White House Correspondent, Laura Barrón-López, contributed to this reporting. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis is PBS NewsHour's digital anchor where she hosts pre- and post-shows and breaking news live streams on digital platforms and serves as a correspondent for the nightly broadcast. Ellis joined the NewsHour from The Washington Post, where she was an Emmy nominated on-air reporter and anchor covering social issues and breaking news. In this role, she hosted, produced, and directed original documentaries and breaking news videos for The Post’s website, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Facebook and Twitch, earning a National Outstanding Breaking News Emmy Nomination for her coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Ellis created and hosted The Post’s first original documentary series, “Should I freeze my eggs?,” in which she explores her own fertility and received the 2019 Digiday Publishers Award. She also created and hosted the Webby Award-winning news literacy series “The New Normal,” the most viewed video series in the history of The Washington Post’s women’s vertical, The Lily. She is the author of “We Go High,” a non-fiction self-help-by-proxy book on overcoming adversity publishing in 2022, and host of Critical Conversations on BookClub, an author-led book club platform. Prior to that, Ellis was a part of the production team for the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series, CNN Heroes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Human Rights from Columbia University, as well as a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School. By — Casey Kuhn Casey Kuhn Casey is a producer for NewsHour's digital video team. She has won several awards for her work in broadcast journalism, including a national Edward R. Murrow award. @caseyatthedesk
The 2022 midterm elections have drawn a record number of Black Republican candidates running for Congress. It’s a remarkable turn in an election season marred by the increasing embrace of racist rhetoric and policies by GOP lawmakers and candidates. The National Republican Congressional Committee says 28 Black candidates have made it past the nomination process this election season, down from 80 at the start. By contrast, there are just three Black Republicans currently in Congress — the largest number to serve simultaneously since Reconstruction. During Reconstruction, it was fairly common to have five to seven Black Republicans in Congress at a time, according to Theodore Johnson, a fellow at the policy think tank New America. Watch the conversation between the PBS NewsHour’s Nicole Ellis and Theodore Johnson in the player above. If elected, this year’s Black Republican candidates could break those Reconstruction records. The difference this time is the demography of the voters supporting them. Black Republicans that ran during reconstruction were often voted in by newly enfranchised Black men, Johnson said, adding that Black Republicans today are being voted in by a predominantly white conservative base. Risks of political violence and voter intimidation loom over midterms The large number of Black candidates this election season, despite the increasingly racist climate, likely results from the sweeping success of the MAGA movement, according to Johnson. It is easier, he said, for minority candidates to win primaries when a party is captured by a movement, “because MAGA red speaks louder than the color of one’s skin.” The increase in Black GOP candidates comes at a time when Republican candidates are increasingly embracing racist policies and rhetoric. One notable recent example was Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who last month suggested that Black Americans support crime. Many Black Republican candidates are trying to dissociate themselves from that kind of rhetoric by excusing remarks about Black people as a group as examples of failed Democratic policies, Johnson said. Others agree with the rhetoric, seeing themselves as exceptional and therefore exempt from such remarks. Black voters, Johnson said, are adept at discerning the dog whistles of racist rhetoric. And polling indicates that even when a Black Republican is on the ballot, the vast majority of Black voters still vote Democrat. A Pew Research survey from August found that 70 percent of registered Black voters said they would vote for the Democratic candidate in the House race in the upcoming election, compared with just 6 percent of registered Black voters who said they would vote for the Republican candidate in the race. On the issues, there is a disconnect between Black voters and GOP stances. A recent Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey from October, for example, showed that only 14 percent of Black voters believed that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent — a claim on which many Republicans have been campaigning ahead of the midterms. By contrast, 34 percent of white voters believe the “Big Lie” of a stolen election, according to the same survey. One issue that does seem to resonate for conservative Black male voters is immigration, in part because of competition for jobs. “There’s an attempt to weaponize that tension between Black folks and Hispanic immigrants in particular,” Johnson said. 55,000 people with prior felony convictions can now vote in North Carolina. Here’s what that means for the midterms “Some of this rhetoric may resonate with a very small cohort of Black voters, just as it has with a particular cohort of Republican voters. But … in the main, this is pushing Black folks away from the Republican Party,” Johnson said, adding that weaponizing the tension on immigration is “not a winning message.” The PBS NewsHour’s White House Correspondent, Laura Barrón-López, contributed to this reporting. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now