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‘We’re fighting this by ourselves’: Southern Black leaders feel abandoned by Democratic Party

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3 weeks ago

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Black leaders across the South have expressed a visceral shock in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. But as the surprise wears off, a sense of isolation has begun to set in among some.

Black lawmakers and activists across the Deep South argue they have been abandoned by the Democratic Party to fight an existential crisis on their own. They say they’ve been let down by nearly all corners of the party: would be-presidential hopefuls who have flocked to early and swing states but don’t bring their megaphones elsewhere; congressional leadership focused on majority-making battlegrounds while safe Black seats are drawn out; and years of chronic underfunding that has allowed local party apparatus to wither away.

“Folks who lead our party go to swing states like North Carolina and Georgia, but states like Mississippi and Tennessee and Alabama and South Carolina are really neglected and are really forgotten and are really treated as if it is inevitable that we’ll always stay in such systems of what I call apartheid type of politics,” said Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones.

The feeling of neglect is compounding what the lawmakers called a crisis for Black representation already underway in the wake of Louisiana v. Callais, the April Supreme Court decision that took aim at the VRA.

While Black Southern lawmakers sound the alarm on the long-term consequences for their congressional delegations and legislatures, Republican leaders in several Southern strongholds have already signaled plans to redraw district lines ahead of 2028.

Florida state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said that between the Supreme Court, the White House and GOP-controlled statehouses, there is a “concerted effort to suppress Black votes” — a refrain many Black leaders have been shouting recently.

“Republicans in the Legislature and the Supreme Court have said that it’s okay to turn back the clock and reverse civil rights progress in this country,” Driskell said. “They’re basically giving these Southern states what they have consistently and persistently wanted, which is to suppress Black voices.”

Though many Black leaders said they ultimately hold Republicans responsible for the Callais decision — andthe subsequent redistricting efforts — a sense of frustration at congressional Democrats is also palpable, especially among younger Black Americans.

“The Democrats sort of allowed for this behavior to regularly happen,” said Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr., noting that the party fumbled its chance to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act during the Biden administration. “I think that there could have been an opportunity before this second surge in MAGA. As of right now, I’m not sure if we necessarily have the infrastructure for that.”

Black elected officials and activists who spoke to Blue Light News did not call out particular party leaders by name, with Jones’ team arguing it is a broader problem in a “political system that continually abandons Black voters.”

A demonstrator holds up a sign outside the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 7, 2026.

“This crisis of multiracial democracy is bigger than any one person’s failing, and will require a unified movement if we are going to stop the largest assault on Black representation since the end of Reconstruction,” Chandler Quaile, Jones’ chief of staff, said in a later statement.

But it comes at a time when the party’s three most prominent leaders — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and DNC Chair Ken Martin — face discontent from various wings of the party.

The DNC defended its work with Black communities and voters, saying it has been providing some tools to Southern states — such as training and staffing for those in need of infrastructure, including a 10-week training for states without a voter protection director. And since the start of the year, Martin has traveled to cities including Atlanta; Selma, Alabama; and Memphis, Tennessee.

“The DNC will use every tool at our disposal to protect the right to vote and to fight against the dilution of Black political power as a result of the disastrous Callais decision,” said Angelo Fernández Hernández, spokesperson for the DNC, in a statement.

And Republicans rejected Democrats’ characterization of their post-decision redistricting scramble. In a statement, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said the Supreme Court’s ruling ended “the unlawful practice of drawing congressional districts on the basis of race” and was “a win for all Americans and our colorblind constitution.”

But Black Democrats say it’s hard to build a defense when party leaders are clashing over what their offensive strategy should be. Some have called for redrawing maps in blue states to favor Democratic candidates, while others are relying on lawsuits challenging new GOP maps.

Some have called for both.

“I don’t need anybody to hold my hand, but what I need is strategy,” Driskell said. “I need us to be thoughtful, and I think that that is what is missing.”

Like Jones, Driskell didn’t direct her frustrations at any one specific party leader, but added that Black leaders across the South “definitely understand” the potential repercussions Callais could have on their communities — and that “it would be great for the national dialogue to pick up on that.”

Jeffries’ office did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesperson for Schumer declined to comment, instead directing questions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Jessica Knight Henry, deputy executive director for the DSCC, said in a statement that Democrats are working to meet Republican-led attacks on voters through the courts and investments.

“Democrats have worked to meet these attacks head on in court, in campaigns, and we will continue to invest strategically in states that offer opportunities for Democrats to flip seats and take back majorities so we can fight to pass legislation that advances voter protections and rights, like the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” Knight Henry said.

Still, over the last year, the party’s main focus has been on winning back the House and Senate. Even the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, the campaigning arm of the entirely Democratic 62-member caucus, said in a previous interview that its focus remains taking back Congress.

“The PAC has always been focused on electing Democrats in tough seats so that we can reclaim the majority. That goal, that focus, has not changed,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) told Blue Light News in May, shortly after the Callais ruling came down.

The fight over redistricting could dramatically weaken Black representation, both in Congress and in state governments; CBC leadership has projected that roughly a third of their members could see their seats erased with redistricting efforts.

State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis), center, marches with protesters before a special session of the state Legislature to redraw U.S. congressional voting maps, in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 5, 2026.

And in The POLITICO Poll in May, 45 percent of Democratic voters said the party should consider countering Republican efforts by drawing their own maps that create more Democratic seats, even if it means reducing the number of majority-minority districts.

Black leaders in the states said that dual reality — Republicans targeting seats in the South and a Democratic Party rank and file seemingly willing to abandon other seats for more political power — only deepens the isolation they feel. Non-Black voters fail to grasp the gravity of the moment, they argued.

For these leaders, the stakes are personal, citing a direct, familial connection to a pre-VRA era, when Jim Crow laws were flourishing across many Southern states.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones recalled sitting across the dinner table from his father, who integrated a public school at just 7 years old, while Driskell shared stories of her father seeing “colored only” water fountains at public parks as a child.

“A lot of Black people feel like, in some ways, we’re fighting this by ourselves,” Justin Jones, the Tennessee lawmaker, said. “We need the wider community — particularly our white allies — to step up and see that this is not just a fight for Black people, but it’s a fight for all Americans who really believe in multiracial democracy.”

Some state leaders are now leaning on each other to try and get ahead of potential issues come the midterms this November. Jay Jones said his office is using “every tool at our disposal” to maintain “free elections,” including collaborating with other Democratic attorneys general to brainstorm voter protection tactics.

“We want to make sure that everybody participates and steps up, that they can go do so freely, without fear of intimidation, retribution, or being denied a ballot,” said Jay Jones, the commonwealth’s first Black attorney general.

Meanwhile, activists are leading their own charge as well, trying to rally a groundswell movement that they hope cannot be ignored.

“Every major question of whether America is going to be a democracy — that question was asked and answered in the South,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. “And so, once again, we’re being asked. And our question is: Is America going to be a democratic nation with free and fair elections? That question is for America, but the South will answer it.”

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It might take ‘a lightning bolt from God’ to get these Senate Democratic hopefuls to bow for independents

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24 hours ago

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August 1, 2026

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Democrats vying for a pair of deep-red Senate seats are facing increasingly desperate calls from within their party to step aside for more promising independent candidates.

But they say they won’t drop out — unless there’s divine intervention.

Democrats Alani Bankhead of Montana and Julian Beaudion of South Dakota both told Blue Light News they have no plans to exit the race, despite pressure from national — and even some state — Democrats to step aside. Numerouspolls, coupled with strongerfundraising and campaign operations, show independents Seth Bodnar and Brian Bengs have a stronger — if still muddied — path to victory in November.

If the Democrats stay on the ballot, it will be almost impossible to claw these seats away from Republicans in Mountain West states that President Donald Trump dominated in 2024.

“I’m a person of faith. If a lightning bolt from God struck me and was like, ‘Alani, get out of the race,’ sure,” Bankhead told Blue Light News when asked if anything would change her mind. Otherwise, she said there’s “absolutely nothing.”

Beaudion has a similar resolve: “To be clear, we are not considering dropping out of the race,” he told Blue Light News.

By digging in, the Democrats could imperil their party’s hopes of regaining Senate control in an already uphill cycle. There’s broad agreement across the many factions of the Democratic Party that a crowded race relinquishes any hope of victory. Bengs has argued that Beaudion remaining on the ballot jeopardizes his chance of winning this fall against GOP Sen. Mike Rounds. Bodnar has maintained he has a viable path either way, and he could be helped out if the Libertarian candidate in the race pulls votes from Republican Kurt Alme.

The deadline to withdraw in South Dakota is Tuesday, and Montana’s is shortly after, on Aug. 10. Democrats across the ideological spectrum in Washington and their home states are calling on Bankhead and Beaudion to step down to help their party bank-shot a Senate majority, with the idea that a victorious independent candidate could caucus with a future Democratic majority — or at least not party up with Republicans.

“The math is inescapable. If it’s impossible for a Democrat to win, it is vital that the Democrats step aside and give the independent at least a shot of beating the Republican,” said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. “Beating the MAGA Republicans is priorities one, two and three. Who we beat them with is pretty far down the list.”

Democrats have already had some luck setting up one-on-one independent vs. Republican matchups in other Trump-won states. The Democratic candidate in Nebraska withdrew to pave the way for independent Dan Osborn — though an ongoing court case from a Democratic anti-abortion pastor could complicate things. And Idaho’s Democratic nominee recently dropped out in favor of independent Todd Achilles.

“Knowing that your campaign is not gonna break through, and just being able to recognize that is probably the hardest thing of all,” Achilles said of Democrat David Roth’s decision to step down. “I do appreciate what David did in Idaho.”

Bankhead and Beaudion insist they can win, even despite the headwinds. Bankhead expects to ride the anti-incumbency and pro-outsider wave into office, and Beaudion credits his relationships with voters throughout the state.

“Nobody ever knows what’s actually going to happen in an election,” Bankhead said. “The people decide on November 3.”

But Idaho and Nebraska Democrats reached a conclusion that Bankhead and Beaudion did not: The party’s brand is so tarnished in their states that the “D” label on the ballot line provides no viable path to victory.

“I am a professional partisan Democrat, and I have every incentive to be on the Democrat’s side here,” said Pat Dennis, president of American Bridge 21st Century, an opposition-research firm. “But ultimately, the priority is to take the Senate majority away from Republicans. In some states, that path is very difficult to impossible for a Democrat. In those cases, it is both strategically and morally correct to take the path that is most likely to achieve the goal we’re going for.”

Faiz Shakir, a longtime adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), did not go as far as to call for Bankhead and Beaudion to step aside. But he agreed that there’s real opportunity for independents who aren’t stuck with the Democratic brand’s baggage.

“Being someone who’s not associated with the two-party system right now helps you greatly in many parts of this country, particularly those that have much more rural and conservative tendencies,” said Shakir. “There’s frustration and anger with Trump, and there’s not as much of a love and appreciation for the Democratic Party.”

Shakir also said that competitive races in these red areas — even if the independents can’t pull off a win — could force Republicans to pull much-needed resources out of battleground races in order to defend their turf.

But he also offered a warning to his party: Talking too much about the independents’ strong fundraising and establishment backing risks tying them to the “donor class” and turning them “into a worse version of what people assumed of a Democrat.”

“You gotta give them the space to be both independent in mind and in spirit,” he said. “The argument for them is truly that they are building a movement in the state that people are hungry for, and that in the support of those people, they’re finding resonance. And that would be the argument for a Democrat to step aside.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are working to paint the independents and Democrats as one and the same. They’re also trying to elevate the Democrats in an attempt to stop the independents from gaining more traction: Trump on social media attacked Bankhead in July, ignoring Bodnar entirely.

“Democrat-backed independents all support the same socialist policies and middle-class tax hikes that made Democrats toxic across the country,” Joanna Rodriguez, the communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement. “Republicans will defeat them in November.”

The inside calls for Beaudion and Bankhead to step aside aren’t just coming from Washington. Many local Democrats in Montana and South Dakota have said publicly they should not continue their campaigns. Nancy Keenan, the former executive director of the Montana Democratic Party who has endorsed Bodnar, wrote in a June op-ed that “there is not a viable path for a Democratic victory in this race.”

Bennett, the Third Way co-founder, went further, saying if Democrats fail to flip the Senate in November, the blame would lie at the hands of Bankhead and Beaudion.

“If we fumble away a majority because these no hope candidates are too vain to get out of the race, that’ll be a political calamity,” he said. “These people need to understand that they will become pariahs.”

Bankhead doesn’t see it that way.

“I’m not swayed by it because I’m not here for power and money,” she said. “It’s still the old, rich D.C. powerful political circles that are trying to keep more progressive candidates out of the fight so they can maintain the status quo.”

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FCC chair Brendan Carr on Trump, free speech and his threats against broadcasters

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2 days ago

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July 31, 2026

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FCC chair Brendan Carr on Trump, free speech and his threats against broadcasters

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Mandela Barnes considering dropping out of Wisconsin governor race

Published

3 days ago

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July 30, 2026

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Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and his team are discussing dropping out of the crowded Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The conversations come as Democratic officials in the state brace for damaging media reports about Barnes expected to hit in the coming hours. Barnes and his team have been on calls Thursday to discuss how to proceed, according to the people, granted anonymity to share private details.

The primary had become increasingly messy as more moderate leaning Democrats like Barnes have tried to stave off Democratic socialist Francesca Hong’s rise, worried her victory could boost presumed Republican nominee Tom Tiffany. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement of David Crowley — who reentered the race in the final stretch — further complicated the moderate coalition.

A spokesperson for Barnes’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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