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Jet, Nov 23, 1998

Blacks fared well in the recent major elections throughout the country, with 39 Black congressmen and women winning reelection.

Well-known congressmen and women such as Maxine Waters, Jesse L. Jackson Jr., John Lewis, Cynthia McKinney and Carrie Meek were among those who returned to their offices for another term.

Political observers noted that 38 of those who returned to office were Democrats along with one Republican, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma.

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones is the replacement for Cleveland Rep. Louis Stokes, who retired after 30 years of service.

Despite the loss of Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, in the U.S. Senate, Black voters made the difference in key elections in other states.

New York Newsday reported, "After months of waging a grassroots campaign, African-American groups and labor organizers reveled in the results of their efforts--a large turnout of their constituencies that led to a surprisingly strong showing of Democrats in (the) election."

In Maryland, one out of five voters was Black, compared to one out of eight in 1994.

In Georgia, 29 percent of the voters were Black, up from 19 percent in 1994, and in South Carolina an estimated more than 30 percent of eligible Black voters went to the polls, according to political observers.

In Illinois, voter participation among Blacks in Chicago this November doubled what it was four years ago, the Chicago Tribune reported.

President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited churches in Black communities throughout the country and also turned to the Black media to urge Blacks to vote for Democrats.

The Congressional Black Caucus, chaired by Maxine Waters, also pushed Blacks to the polls on Black radio stations.

Caucus members also sponsored a bus tour from Louisville, KY, to Chicago to arouse voters with stops in Frankfort, KY, Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis, Chicago and Racine, WI.

"We had strengthened the Black base for the Democratic Party," Waters told Newsday.

Washington, D.C., Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who also won re-election, said she urged the Clinton administration to concentrate on Black voters after Republicans dominated the House in 1994.

"It's been TLC (tender loving care) for the Black community this year," Norton told Newsday. "The upswitch you are seeing in races now is because of that."

Blacks also captured history-making positions in the recent elections.

In Georgia, Democratic Attorney General Thurbert Baker, appointed to the post last year by Gov. Zell Miller, captured a full-term victory in the recent election. Baker is now the first Black elected attorney general in Georgia.

"I am very excited about the victory. I think it was a great victory for me personally as well as the state of Georgia," Baker told Jet. "The people heard our anti-crime message and supported it as we did well all over the state."

As far as being the first Black attorney general in Georgia, Baker noted, "What I strive to do everyday is to really be the best attorney general that Georgia ever had."

Joining Baker in the state's history books is Michael Thurmond, a Democrat who captured the Georgia labor commissioner's race and is now the state's first Black labor commissioner. He and Baker are the first two Blacks elected to office in a non-judicial statewide race in Georgia since Reconstruction.

"We need to give a lot of credit to the African-American voters who came out in historic numbers and made our elections possible," Thurmond told Jet. As Labor Commissioner, Thurmond said his goal is "to break the pattern of poverty and joblessness that has existed since the abolition of slavery."

In Illinois, Jesse White, the Cook County recorder of deeds, became the first Black to hold the office of secretary of state. A longtime Democrat, White is also founder of the famed Jesse White Tumbling Team for youths.

Denver lawyer Joe Rogers became Colorado's new lieutenant governor. Rogers' victory makes him the nation's only Black lieutenant governor. Rogers ran on the Republican ticket along with White gubernatorial candidate Bill Owens, who was elected.

At the party rally, Rogers said he "was honored to have been elected to serve the people of Colorado and given the opportunity to bring new vision, new energy and new leadership for Colorado and the nation."

Also in Colorado, Secretary of State Vikki Buckley, a Republican, who became the first Black woman elected to statewide office in the state four years ago, won re-election. Buckley is the highest-ranking Black female Republican to hold a statewide elective office in the nation.

In Ohio, Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell became the state's top elections officer when he won as Ohio's first Black secretary of state. Blackwell, who is completing his first term as Ohio state treasurer, will now oversee state elections, register companies, trademarks and trade names and also license out-of-state firms doing business in the state.

In Illinois, John Stroger easily won re-election as president of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County.

In New York, H. Carl McCall, longtime Democrat, who became the first Black candidate elected statewide in 1994, swept into office for a second full term as state comptroller.