Black Candidates Will Help Democrats Win These 4 Swing Senate Seats in 2022

These key states are most likely to expand Democrats’ majority in the chamber while deepening racial and gender diversity

By Fola Onifade

Somehow, it’s almost August and you may have forgotten that late last year through January of this year, the country scored major victories in Georgia that paved the path to Joe Biden’s presidency and a Democratic Senate majority. You may also recall that any celebration or sigh of relief was cut short as modern-day Confederates and white nationalist insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol brandishing weapons and actual Confederate flags, attempting to block the certification of the election and threatening the lives of the Vice President and several Congresspeople and Capitol Hill staff.

They were ultimately unsuccessful, and while we’re still waiting to have both the insurrectionists and the Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the election held accountable, the best thing we can do to secure our democracy is to win more seats in the Senate. Across the country, several candidates of color are stepping up to fight for the multiracial democracy that modern-day Confederates are working hard to prevent. So, we’re turning our eyes to 2022, when Democrats will have the opportunity to expand on their wins from last year, if they make wise decisions about the candidates they support with money and early action.

As Democracy in Color’s founder Steve Phillips continues to flesh out a pathway for How We Win the Civil War (the title of his forthcoming book and the very legitimate question plaguing American democracy today), there are four specific Senate races that offer our best bets to not only hold, but expand, the Democratic majority in Congress. 

While the Democratic Party was slow to get on board with the possibility of winning in Georgia in 2020, the victories in both December and January, bolstered by a decade of organizing across the state, affirmed that there is a formula for winning. High turnout from voters of colors aligned with progressive whites is a winning strategy, and driving those levels of turnout is often attached to running a Black candidate who can inspire the electorate. This analysis leads us to the four states where Democrats have the best shot of replicating (or repeating) Georgia’s victory. 

Wisconsin: Mandela Barnes

His name is Mandela...need we say more? In all seriousness, in a state that voted Democrat for seven consecutive presidential elections prior to Hilary Clinton’s campaign, Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is the kind of candidate that would inspire the party’s multiracial and progressive base and drive voter turnout in 2022. In his 2018 primary run for lieutenant governor, Barnes won in “virtually all of the state’s 72 counties”, buoyed by his ability to secure votes in rural areas despite being outspent, according to Cap Times.

Why this race matters: While Wisconsin was considered ‘reliably blue’ up until 2016, the presidential races tend to be close, dating back to Gore v. Bush in 2000 when Al Gore won the state by just under 6,000 votes. Former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 proved the power of having a candidate that voters of multiracial backgrounds could connect with. Barnes can speak to issues of “economic anxiety” that affect not just white people, but plague Black communities and communities of color as well, in the form of the racial wealth gap or disproportionate unemployment.

North Carolina: Cheri Beasley

In North Carolina, Cheri Beasley, the first Black Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina is running for Senate to replace Senator Richard Burr, who will be stepping down after he finishes his term. If elected, Beasley would be the first African American woman to serve as senator from North Carolina.

Why this race matters: Since Vice President Kamala Harris left the Senate to serve as second-in-command to President Joe Biden, the chamber has been absent a Black woman. In the 2020 election cycle, Cheri Beasley was narrowly defeated in her race to hold on to her seat by just 401 votes. She still received thousands more votes than President Biden, according to the Washington Post, making her a frontrunner in the race. If Beasley and Val Demings who’s next on the list are successful, the Senate would gain not one, but two Black women where there is currently none.

Florida: Val Demings

Representative Val Demings, a former police chief in Orlando who was vetted for Vice President by the Biden team, is challenging Senator Marco Rubio, who continues to align himself with the incendiary white nationalist rhetoric of Trump Republicans. Demings, on the other hand, grew to national recognition as one of the managers in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.

Why this race matters: The January 2021 Georgia run-off elections were the first indicators of what is possible when Trump is not on the ballot, a major point that continues to frame the races for vulnerable Republican Senators, forcing them to fully align with Trump and run the risk of alienating less extreme conservatives or attempt to win without support from the party’s leading figure. In the 2018 gubernatorial race, Andrew Gillum, the first Black nominee for Florida governor was narrowly defeated by 32,000 votes. Now, Floridians will have the chance to make history by electing a Black woman to the Senate. 

Georgia: Raphael Warnock

In January 2021, Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church (the church that was led by Dr. Martin Luther King) made history as the first Black Senator from Georgia. His victory, along with Senator Jon Ossoff's, played a critical role in Congress passing a $1.9 trillion relief bill that has, among other things, delivered direct payments to individuals and couples, extended unemployment benefits, and expanded the child tax credit for families. Because his race was a special election, he’s up once again to hold on to his seat and the Senate majority.

Why this race matters: Georgia’s shining role in the 2020 elections are a result of a decade-long effort to turn demographic potential into political power. According to the Pew Research Center, Black, Asian and Latino Americans have been the driving factor in Georgia’s voter registration growth since 2016. Across the state, racial and ethnic groups broke records that led to historic voter turnout numbers and Democratic victories. 

Georgia is proof-positive that dynamic and engaging candidates who speak to the issues that matter to Black people and people of color can drive winning levels of support across racial and ethnic lines.

Pennsylvania: Still Watching

We’re still assessing the landscape in the Pennsylvania Senate race to replace Senator Pat Toomey. There are currently two Black primary candidates we’re watching: State Senators Malcolm Kenyatta and Sharif Street. It’s still unclear who the leading candidate will be in the crowded race, and we’ll have more to say in the weeks ahead.