Biden's support among Black women leaders still strong even as others jump ship

WASHINGTON ? More than 1,400 Black women, including leaders of national civic engagement organizations, affirmed their support Thursday for a Biden/Harris ticket criticizing Democrats and others calling for President Joe Biden to abandon his reelection bid.

“The suggestion that any candidate who won their primary should simply step aside because victory appears difficult at the moment is disrespectful to the voters, unjust and undemocratic,’’ they wrote in a July 17 letter addressed to the Democratic Party Leadership.

Some Democrats, including members of Congress, have called for Biden to step down in the wake of his poor showing in a debate last month against his GOP opponent former President Donald Trump. They also point to recent polls that show Trump would defeat Biden in November.

The support is significant in part because national Democrats have relied on Black women as allies. Traditionally, Black women, whose political influence has grown, have been a loyal voting bloc for Democratic candidates.

They have been credited with helping increase Black voter turnout in some recent elections, including in 2018 and in the 2020 contest that Biden won. They were also particularly instrumental in get-out-the-vote campaigns in key battleground states and critical races in Georgia.

“They’re critically important and they need to be paid attention to. That’s a powerful message,’’ Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said of the letter.

But she added, “the drumbeat now is so strong’’ for Biden to step down.

Many civic engagement organizations led by Black women have already launched get-out-the-vote campaigns for the 2024 presidential election. Some started early last fall and ramped up efforts during the primaries.

Women who signed the letter include leaders of national groups, including Black Voters Matter, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Higher Heights for America PAC. Signees also include faith leaders, voting rights activists, community leaders, former elected local officials and former members of Congress, including Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

“No one said this would be easy,’’ Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior advisor to the Biden campaign, said on CNN Friday morning. Bottoms was among the women to sign the letter.

Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, noted that she had trailed in her own race, but prevailed. Biden has earned his position as the Democratic nominee, she said.

In the letter, the women pointed to the 14 million people who voted for Biden during primary contests this year arguing their will should not be dismissed.

“We reject all efforts to disregard this fact or to circumvent the will of millions of voters who participated in a democratic process,’’ they wrote. “The primaries held earlier this year were the appropriate time to challenge candidates for the nomination and press arguments about qualifications."

The letter sends a clear message to Democrats, said Ange-Marie, executive director of the Kirwan Institute at The Ohio State University and curator of the Kamala Harris Project, a consortium of scholars from the country studying the vice president.

“It is a fair warning signal that any replacement of President Biden will have to meet the approval of Black women voters and or Black women elected officials and folks who are doing the work,’’ Hancock said. “I don't necessarily see it as a threat. I think that's too strong of a word. But I do think it is a caution and I think it's a caution that benefits someone like a VP Harris … It's also a caution around the party had better have a plan because if they don't have a plan this is not going to go well.”

During the 2020 race, many of the groups rallied behind Biden’s promise to select a Black woman as a running mate and his pledge to nominate a Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Biden selected Kamala Harris, then a senator from California, as his vice president and nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the nation’s highest court.

In the letter, the women called Trump a threat to democracy and praised Biden’s record.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is running on a solid record of historic legislative accomplishments and a commitment to finish their agenda to improve the lives of all Americans, protect our rights, freedoms and democracy,’’ they wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden's support among Black women leaders remains strong