An energized and evolving electorate, well-executed grassroots organizing and exhaustive networks among historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), among other factors, are responsible for the historic gubernatorial candidacies of Georgia’s Stacey Abrams and Florida’s Andrew Gillum, according to scholars and experts in political science and African-American studies.
“What we’re seeing is a departure from politics as usual,” said Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean, an associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University.
Brown-Dean attributes Abrams and Gillums’ ongoing momentum to their campaigns’ clear messaging and the fact that the candidates have “taken it back” to grassroots-level organizing, something mainstream Democratic candidates have gotten away from, she said.
Dr. Ravi K. Perry, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, added that a spur of Black Democratic progressive mayors throughout the South – from major cities such as Richmond; Charlotte; Atlanta; Tallahassee; New Orleans; Birmingham; and Jackson, MS – has had an “indirect” effect on the emergence of candidates like Abrams and Gillum.
“We’re already seeing a very enthused Democratic base” that is a “more progressive bent” in the party, said Dr. Clarence Lusane, a professor of political science at Howard University. “That spectrum is disproportionally women, people of color and young people.”
Lusane agreed with Brown-Dean’s observations that candidates like Abrams, Gillum and Ben Jealous in Maryland have articulated their stance on progressive issues such as increasing minimum wage, extending and expanding Obamacare and Medicaid for all, and advocating for a more fair distribution of government resources.
“Those agendas aren’t necessarily different, although the strategies for winning might be different,” Lusane said. Additionally, the candidates’ base of supporters varies; Abrams has to mobilize a broader African-American base, while Gillum has to mobilize African-American and Latino voters in Florida, Lusane added.
