Who will be the first Black elected governor? Lt. Gov. L. Douglas Wilder's campaign raises hopes in Virginia

Ebony, Nov, 1989 by Alex Poinsett

Who Will Be The First Black Elected Governor?

IT'S the first time in history that a politician has bothered to solicit votes in tiny (pop: 1,500) Ivanhoe, Va.

Two dozen or so mostly White townspeople mill about in the main hall of an ancient, wood frame "education building." They offer sandwiches and soft drinks to Lt. Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and the staffers from his five-car motorcade. Then, after much friendly chatter, Wilder mounts an ankle-high stage, dons an "I-love-Ivanhoe" cap, and launches into folksy remarks about his plans for reviving Ivanhoe and other economically depressed towns in rural virginia after the November 7 gubernatorial election.

The White voters applaud enthusiastically and gather around afterward to pump the candidate's hands. Nobody mentions the fact that the Democratic nominee for governor of the state of Virginia, the state of Jefferson and Washington and Robert E. Lee, is a 58-year-old grandson of slaves.

Making history is a habit for Wilder. When he was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1969, he became its first Black since Reconstruction. His 1985 election as lieutenant governor--with 97 percent of the Black vote and 46 percent of the White vote--made him the first post-Reconstruction Black to win a statewide office in Virginia. And when Virginia's Democratic Party nominated him this year to become the nation's first Black elected governor, that, too, was historic.

"I have no illusions about what I'm doing" he said recently during his grueling 3,750-mile campaign trek over back roads, into country stores and churches, coal mines and corporate board rooms around the state. "I'm not running to come in close or to make it look good. I'm running to win and then to serve. If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't run."

Political observers give Wilder the best chance for a Black gubernatorial win since Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley's 1982 and 1986 defeats in California. "He has not sacrificed himself or his commitment to the disadvantaged, including Black people," reports Eddie N. Williams, president of the Washington-based Joint Center for Political Studies. "But he has reached out to deal with a larger constituency."

By mid-August, Wilder had raised $3.5 million--about 20 percent from corporations--for his campaign and had sought an additional $3 million to mount a media blitz against Republican opponent Marshall Coleman, Virginia's former attorney general.

Wilder's unprecedented success in wooing White voters has fueled speculation about who will be the first Black elected governor. Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young will probably enter the Georgia governor's race before the Democratic Primary next spring, and other candidates and potential candidates are waiting in the wings. The problem all of these candidates face is what political scientist Hanes Walton calls the "run-off factor." For in past elections, particularly in the Deep South, conservative Democrats, Dr. Walton says, have switched to the Republican candidate to keep from voting for the Black Democratic candidate.

Early on there were indications that Wilder was overcoming some of these problems. The question remains "What is it Black candidates must do in order to win statewide elections?" Clearly, they cannot campaign on racial issues only. Dr. Jabari Simama, head of Clark College's mass communications department and an Atlanta City Council member, sees Mayor Young as a political moderate who would be palatable to Whites. "If you consider the type of governors we've had in Georgia, Andy Young would be a breadth of fresh air. But can he attract the White vote in rural Georgia? If he can't win, who can?" Simama asks.

Both Young and Wilder qualify for statewide elections, observes California Assemblywoman Maxine Waters, herself singled out by some political observers as a possibility for statewide office. "I think populist candidates are the candidates of the future," she says. "The way you cross ethnic lines is not so much by trying to convince people that they should be good and moral. You have to appeal to people's interests and bring them together around issues. For example, universal health care is emerging as one of the biggest populist issues because people of all ethnic groups are priced out of health insurance. Affordable housing is another serious populist issue."

The Joint Center has reported that on big-ticket policy issues the concerns of Blacks and Whites virtually converge. Both worry about the economy and jobs, drugs and crime, etc. "We've been saying for some time that shrewd Black candidates can put together some bridging issues," the JCP's Eddie Williams says. "Where Blacks and Whites differ is in how they deal with the problems. Blacks tend to emphasize government solutions more so than Whites."

Despite common socioeconomic concerns, racial prejudice remains a major obstacle when Black candidates seek White support, reports the Joint Center. However, campaign strategy and campaign style, issue presentation and effective use of radio and television are also important factors which have received relatively little attention and analysis.