The Race for the South

by with No Comment Diversity & InclusionFeaturedPolitics

2018 saw a new wave of Democratic candidates coming out of southern states. Alabama ushered in a surprise wave of excitement at the end of 2017 with the special election of U.S. Senator Doug Jones. However, that Alabama excitement did not spread into southern states for the 2018 midterms. States like Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida all had big races at the U.S. Senate or gubernatorial levels. The top tickets Democrats in those states lost.

Some lost by small margins while others were a gap large enough to consider it a landslide.  

Candidates like Stacy Abrams of Georgia and Beto O’Rouke of Texas tapped into new voters through the excitement surrounding their campaigns, but ultimately failed to secure the victory.  In Abrams case, voter suppression played a major role. As the first African American female to secure the Democratic nomination for governor – ever – she fought against the state’s Republican Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, who refused to resign even as he administered over the electoral process while running competing against Abrams in the race.

O’Rouke narrowly lost – 48.3% to 50.9% – to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz who saw his lead tightening closer to election day. Having served as the congressman for Texas’ 16th district, O’Rouke ran a campaign that didn’t rely on the traditional polling to advise him.  He pledged not to accept PAC contributions and raised nearly $2 million in the first three months through small donations.

Florida also held a gubernatorial election where Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum fought hard against the Republican nominee Ron DeSantis, falling by less than a percentage point.  Gillum was the first Black nominee for governor in the state of Florida in a racially tinged campaign. And down in Tennessee and Mississippi, U.S. Senate races were top ticket competitive races, but both Democratic nominees lost to their respective Republican candidates.

So, what happened? Voters were energized by the Democratic slate, but failed short to secure the top ticket seats. Conversely, these competitive races did usher in a new wave of Democratic talent for down ticket races. In Texas, Republican judges lost control of the Third Court of Appeals and the Fifth Court of Appeals.  In Tennessee, a wave of twenty African-American women were elected to local and state seats in Shelby County. Alabama had 55 women run for state-level offices. Gun violence advocate, Lucy McBath, won her congressional seat in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

While the larger races did not turn out how Democratic voters in the respective states might have hoped, they did help bring change in other down-ballot races and energize new voters. 2019 is here and now campaign teams are gearing up for 2020. Looking to the past, candidates can only hope for a better future. 

Major League Baseball And Mississippi Politics?

by with 2 Comments FeaturedSports

Major League Baseball (MLB) has a Political Action Committee (PAC). PAC’s are organizations that privately raise money to influence elections or legislation, especially at the federal level. Most corporations have one. That’s not the real story here.

The real story is that on November 23rd, their PAC decided to make a $5,000 donation — the maximum donation allowed under the law — to Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. How can they justify such a donation AFTER the Senator made several racially charged and insensitive comments on the campaign trail? The answer is they can’t, and by 8:30 am today (11/25/18), not even 48 hours later, they’ve asked for the donation to be returned. Official MLB statement…

“The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend. MLB has requested that the contribution be returned.”

Talk about optics for a league that has struggled with integrating African-American players since day one. In 1956, which was Jackie Robinson’s last year in the Majors, African-Americans made up 6.7% of all MLB players. Seventy years later there has been virtually no difference or improvement in that figure (2017 – it was 7.7%). Lack of inner city programs, engagement, outreach, etc., the list is long and probably worth another article as to why those numbers are so low.

Similar read: A Peak Inside American Sports: Cheers & Protests

Regarding the peculiarity of Major League Baseball and Mississippi Politics… the link is hard to find since the state of Mississippi doesn’t have a Major League Baseball team. The economics are simple… Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country and their economy can’t support a pro team. Next to Louisiana, it’s the poorest state in the country with nearly 20% of their residents living in poverty. Hard to sell premium seating and book big entertainment events when their economy is in such condition. Sure, if Cindy Hyde-Smith wins the runoff election, perhaps her vote would count towards passing legislation that would positively impact the MLB and their owners. But with the outcome of the Midterms, Democrats taking the House and Republicans picking up a few more Senate seats, her vote probably wouldn’t matter. So the question remains, why?

I think it’s also worth noting that Charles B. Johnson, billionaire and principal owner of the San Francisco Giants, also donated to her campaign AFTER her “public hanging” comment surfaced. Mr. Johnson is one of the largest Republican Party donors in the country, but why is he concerned about Mississippi politics? He’s originally from New Jersey, attended Yale University, and is the former chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments, one of the world’s largest asset management firms with $740 billion in assets under management. California, and especially the San Francisco area, is probably the most liberal state and city in the country… in comparison to Mississippi, which probably couldn’t be more different regarding issues of race, politics, and progressive views.

Sure, MLB has asked for the donation to be returned, but it should’ve never been made in the first place. In a league that is less than 8% African-American, why would they care about the optics or the pushback from the African-American community? Why… because decency, humanity, and morals still matter. Pro sports teams and leagues claim they want to stay out of politics, but they continue to make questionable decisions that put them right in the middle of political and social debates. Major League Baseball, and others like Charles B. Johnson, who unlike the MLB has not asked for his donation to be returned, need to be held accountable for their actions. If they won’t hold themselves accountable, then it’s up to the citizens to do so.