Op-Eds
May 17, 2024
This Op-ed, What Angela Alsobrooks’ Primary Win Means for Black Women in Politics, by Cynthia Richie Terrell was published in Ms. magazine on May 17, 2024. Read an excerpt below:
It’s 2024. Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population—meaning we are the only true majority in the country. But when we look at who our decision-makers and powerholders are, we see a very different picture. Despite having multiple “record-breaking” years for women’s representation in politics, women still only make up:
- 28 percent of Congress.
- 32 percent of statewide executive offices.
- 33 percent of state legislatures.
It’s even worse when we break it down by race and ethnicity:
- Women of color make up 11 percent of Congress, 7 percent of statewide executive offices and 10 percent of state legislatures.
- We currently have zero Black women governors and only one Black woman in the Senate.
But that could soon change. This week, exciting news came out of Maryland’s Democratic primary race: U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks won big, despite being outspent 10 to 1 by her opponent, Rep. David Trone, a wealthy businessman who threw more than $60 million of his own money into his campaign.
Alsobrooks is the county executive for Maryland’s second-largest county, and this win means she, along with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, could become the United States’ fourth and fifth Black women to ever serve in the U.S. Senate—following Carol Moseley Braun (1993-1998), Kamala Harris (2017-2021) and Laphonza Butler (2023-2024).
Read the complete article here.
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