‘The Kamala Harris Effect’: Black Fraternities And Sororities Mobilize To Support Down-Ballot Candidates In Historic Election Push

Divine Nine members are hitting the pavement to support Black down-ballot candidates.

As more members of the Divine Nine (D9) step up to support down-ballot candidates in state and local elections, many are referring to this trend as “the Kamala Harris effect.”

Down-ballot candidates — especially Black women — have received an influx of support from volunteers in Black Greek organizations this election season, driven in part by Harris’ historic role as vice president, The Associated Press reported. With Harris being a longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., since joining the organization during her senior year at Howard University in 1986, many D9 members have been “extremely active” in federal and state races across the country this year, according to Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think that’s a part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said.

Among the recent efforts include D9 sorority members joining forces on a get-out-the-vote bus tour across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland to rally support for Black women running for office. The women, alongside other volunteers, knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of calls, and sent out hundreds of postcards encouraging people to vote.

“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the Black vote is more powerful and concentrated, as opposed to in national elections, D9 organizations have this tremendous untapped ability to reach and to mobilize disaffected voters,” said Darren Davis, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. took to the streets in Maryland to rally support for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, a fellow Delta who is in a high-profile race against former Republican Governor Larry Hogan. D9 sororities also campaigned for an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, in her U.S. Senate race. If Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester win their races, it would mark the first time in history that two Black women serve in the Senate at the same time.

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes attributed the heightened support she has received from Divine Nine members to her re-election campaign. As the first Black woman elected to Congress from Connecticut, she has witnessed Black fraternity and sorority members actively engaging in her campaign by calling voters, organizing fundraisers, canvassing neighborhoods, rallying at campaign events, and even providing pro bono legal assistance.

“I had people from Massachusetts come in to volunteer,” said Hayes, a Democrat who is seeking a fourth term. “I’ve had people who had previously been considering going to a battleground state like Pennsylvania and are saying, ‘No, we’re going to stay right here and help out in this race in Connecticut.’”

Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently took part in a get-out-the-vote phone banking session for Hayes alongside other Black women from Alpha Kappa Alpha. She emphasized that if Harris wins, she will need strong allies in Congress.

“If we don’t get her a Congress that’s going to be able to move things,” Johnson said, “that becomes hard.”

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