Election Updates on the Black Vote and Other Competitive Races
Election Updates on the Black Vote and Other Competitive Races
David Bostis
Sept. 18, 2006
On September 12, State Representative Keith Ellison won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House in Minnesota’s 5th District. The district is a strong Democratic district, and he is likely to win election on November 7. Ellison describes himself as a strong liberal in the tradition of the late-Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN). Ellison would be both the first black U.S. representative from Minnesota and the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress.
New York City Councilwoman Yvette Clarke won the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Congressional Black Caucus member U.S. Representative Major Owens (NY, 11th District). The district is safely Democratic, so she will join the CBC in January.
Former U.S. Representative and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in Maryland to Representative BenCardin. Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele won the Republican nomination and will face Cardin in November. Also in Maryland, CBC member U.S. Representative Albert Wynn (D-MD) narrowly escaped defeat in his suburban Washington district on September 12. His opponent, activist Donna Edwards, a former Wynn employee, pressed Wynn on his support for the Iraq war, and Wynn only narrowly triumphed 50 to 48 percent. He will be re-elected in his safely Democratic district in November.
Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jim Davis selected former State Senator Daryl Jones of Miami to be his running mate. Colonel Jones, who is in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, is the first black nominee for lieutenant governor in Florida. Davis trails his Republican opponent, State Attorney General Charlie Crist, 49 to 41 percent in the most recent poll on that race.