By Regi Taylor
NNPA Politics Correspondent
At this week’s 50th quadrennial Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the city’s eleventh time hosting, the Black Political Excellence Fund is sponsoring a reception to fete seven female African American State Party Chairs, an historic benchmark for the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC). Moreover, Jeanna Repass of Kansas, Lavora Barnes of Michigan, Daniele Monroe-Moreno of Nevada, Alicia Andrews of Oklahoma, Dr. Rosa Colquitt of Oregon, Christale Spain of South Carolina, and Congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia, are the first Black women to hold these positions in their respective states.
Viewed within the context of the groundbreaking nomination of Afro-Caribbean-Asian American, Kamala Devi Harris, the Democrats’ standard bearer running to assume control of the Oval Office, this sisterhood comprised of an eclectic assemblage of well-qualified, experienced leaders, who while individually unique, share among them a combination of traits – strong intellect, fearlessness, fortitude, competence and determination – in common with the likely next President of the United States.
This combination of strength and talent are not only essential for success at the ballot box in November but pose a formidable political and governmental infrastructure necessary to fulfill the Harris – Walz agenda going forward. As a storyteller, I can’t help observing the parallels between the real-life narrative unfolding around the circumstances of these seven politicians’ success and the fictional epic portrayed in the 2018 iconic blockbuster motion picture, Black Panther. Life imitating art?
In the film, when King T’Chaka of Wakanda dies, his son, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) pretender to the throne, is challenged by his cousin, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). While T’Challa wants to continue the former King’s progressive policies of cultural goodwill and social stability for the masses, Killmonger wants to destroy the status quo and establish himself as a tyrant, embarking on a marauding campaign of malfeasance and mayhem.
T’Challa is able to hold on to power, in part, because the kingdom embraces his congenial temperament and his priorities that favor equity and inclusiveness. However, to overcome the chaos and calamity unleashed by Killmonger in his attempt pillage the kingdom, T’Challa was able to rely on support from Dora Milaje (Adored Ones), his faithful vanguard of seven loyal female warriors who liaised with his subjects on his behalf to communicate their needs and conditions and fought at his side as needed to secure their society from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Sound familiar?
This scenario, though only a cinematic fable, closely parallels the current state of affairs in 2024 America. Does it not? These seven State Democratic Chairwoman, three of them representing battleground states, certainly qualify as Kamala Harris’ Adored Ones, having unflinchingly assumed the mantle of responsibility to liaise with their states’ voters on behalf of Democracy, communicate citizens needs and conditions to the Administration, and fight at Harris-Walz side to defend the Constitution and secure America from tyranny in a severely consequential election hardly ten weeks away.
These woman’s bravery, selflessness and sacrifice, their chutzpah, are in the tradition of Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, and Chicago’s own, Carol Moseley Braun, and includes too many unsung mothers and daughters whom we may never know, putting everything on the line to realize the promise of the American ideal for themselves, their neighbors and for posterity. Within this context, let’s explore some of the wisdom, insights, motivation, and passion that these seven trailblazing political pioneers are skillfully wielding to achieve a more perfect union.
In a series of recent one-on-one discussions that revealed the individual journeys each of these women trekked toward their current achievements, Madams Williams, Repass, Barnes, Monroe-Moreno, Andrews, Colquitt, and Spain shared many of the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, the continuing challenges, lessons learned, and alliances built along the way to stewarding each of their state’s part apparatus.’
The circumstances these women have had to confront, and the myriad complicated issues that continue to surface seem daunting, not for the feint of heart. Not only is the statewide administration of the Democratic party’s agenda by itself a complicated operation with many moving parts and alternating priorities, the mean-spirited, often devious, sometimes illegal tactics employed by the political opposition adds another layer of peril and complexity confronting these leaders. Despite this, in every case these bold women have forged ahead, recognizing that when we fight, we win!
With the seven Adored Ones states spread throughout the West, Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, and in the South, there are disparate conditions, challenges, circumstances, and priorities that confront their missions. Let’s explore some of their hopes, frustrations, strategies and paths forward.
In the case of Dr. Rosa Colquitt, Oregon Democratic Party Chair, the number one top of mind priority is G.O.T.V. – Get Out The Vote! “We have to get out the vote every day of the week, and that includes Saturday and Sunday. There’s no rest because we have to up that voter turnout and we believe that we can do it.” Dr. Colquitt sees G.O.T.V. delivering on several levels in the sort and long term.
“At the core of it, Oregon was the first state in the nation to run an all-mail-in voting operation in a presidential election. Not only do we make it easier to vote by mail, in the last legislative session, 2022. We also approved not only mail-in voting, but included a postage-paid envelope, which kicked up the voter turnout in congressional district 5 very high, although partly encouraged by the incumbent, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s, politics, which is not just Republican, but MAGA.
“We’re trying to take back that seat in CD5 because before DeRemer had it it was held by a Democrat; we lost that seat,” Dr. Colquitt lamented. Indeed, KGW8 in Portland reported that State Rep. Janelle Bynum’s strong victory in the May Democratic primary race projects her to succeed in her contest against Representative Chavez-DeRemer in November. “If we’re successful in retaking that seat and protecting CD6 with [Representative Andrea] Salinas, which some view as vulnerable, if we’re successful in getting those two seats, Oregon will contribute greatly to a majority in the U.S. House, and by all means we want to have Speaker Jeffries, not house minority leader Jeffries. Oregon has a pivotal role in this particular race, so when I say I eat, drink, think, and sleep, G.O.T.V., I’m not overstating that, I’m not being hyperbolic.”
Regarding voter suppression, Chairwoman Colquitt is particularly concerned about a November ballot initiative, Oregon Measure 117, that if passed would introduce ranked choice voting. “My take is that it’s confusing to voters, and if it’s confusing it’s subject to manipulation,” Colquitt suggested. There are lots of suspicious critics of the practice. The Foundation for Government Accountability published a 2023 report entitled Ranked-Choice Voting: A Partisan Plot to Engineer Election Results.
In battleground Georgia, where the stakes and contest are more pronounced, Democratic Party Chair, Nikema Williams, is squarely up to the task and harbors no illusions about what she confronts. Arguably ground zero for many of the MAGA shenanigans that disrupted the 2020 presidential contest, fake electors, extortion attempts against election officials by Trump and Giuliani, opposition to certification, and a series of new anti-voter laws.
Then there’s the Kemp wildcard. Will he play ball for MAGA in November or rebuff Trump due to personal attacks? Chairwoman Williams’ answer: “Trump attacked Governor Kemp and his wife, yet we know Governor Kemp is going to tuck his tail and vote for Trump. Trump’s rally in Georgia brought a whole new level of divisiveness into his campaign: he also called the Vice President names, harped on old grudges and lied repeatedly about the 2020 election. His actions reminded Georgia voters why they already rejected his divisive, hateful agenda once before in 2020.”
Asked what she made of Trump’s recent shout out to his MAGA compatriots on the Georgia Election Board, the Chair responded: “Our State Election Board exists to protect the right to vote for all Georgians, not to favor any single candidate in any election. The three members Donald Trump called his “pit bulls” for “victory” [Dr. Janice Johnston, Rick Jaffares, Janelle King] disagree, and they’re determined to establish a new power of not certifying an election result should their preferred candidate lose — as he did in 2020.”
In South Carolina, land of would-be 2024 presidential and vice-presidential nominee, Senator Tim Scott, State Party Chair, Christale Spain, is clear-eyed and resolute. On historical repression: “South Carolina has got a pretty dim history when it comes to our politics. We were the State that seceded from the Union, right, like we want to be this independent Nation State. The more scary part about it is that we’re not alone. There are Republicans all across the country that are, you know, just espousing the same rhetoric.”
What about down ballot races? “You know we lost some Democratic seats in 2022; you know. We’re going after them. We’re going to be vocal about it, you know. We’re gonna let everybody know where we’re going, where we’re spending money. We have to pick those seats back up and we have to defend our state senators because we can’t afford to lose one more or we would fall into the super minority.” And what about Kamala Harris’ affect on the base? “She’s definitely added a big, big surge for us right? One thing that I know, I’ve been saying, when Democrats aren’t excited, we lose.”
In the land of Oz, Jeanna Repass, Kansas Democratic Party Chair, is the one behind the curtain pushing buttons and pulling levers on behalf of the Harris – Walz juggernaut. Asked about her strategy to help deliver a President Harris agenda to Kansans, the Chair responded: “We’re fortunate in Kansas to have a democratic governor, Laura Kelly, to offset the republican super majority. We need to pick up two seats in the house and three seats in the senate [to make that more effective]. Once we break the super majority, we can [better] help facilitate the Harris- Walz agenda.”
Asked how a Red state like Kansas achieved such a liberal abortion policy, Chairwoman Repass advised: “We were the first state after Dobbs to vote for a state constitutional [abortion] amendment won by roughly 60% coalescing with a huge hunk of the unaffiliated votes. Kansas conservatism is a lot like the Tim Walz kind of thing, ‘mind your own business.’ Republicans, Democrats, Independents, all said stay out of our doctor’s offices, stay out of our bedrooms. Many of our republicans are republicans because they always were, but they tend to swing. Our governor won with Democratic, Independent, and Republican votes. That’s very typical of Kansans. We can pull republicans over because we have good common sense, middle of the road government.”
Unfortunately, as we go to press, we were not able to include commentary from Democratic state party chairs representing Nevada, Michigan, Oklahoma due to their demands attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.