MIAMI — As the raindrops eased on the evening of Election Day, a fellow voter helped to lift Niecy Rahming out of her daughter’s car and into her wheelchair.
Rahming, 95, made it to the polling station with 10 minutes to spare, casting her vote for what she hoped would be Florida’s first Black senator, state Rep. Angie Nixon. A native Floridian and longtime Miami Gardens resident, Rahming has lived long enough to experience Jim Crow and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But that evening, her focus was on the economy.
“Prices are going higher and higher, and it appears there’s no concern for poor people,” she told Capital B.
To Rahming, Nixon’s authenticity was appealing, and she believed that the community organizer would alleviate the financial stress in her community: “She would help the people who are less fortunate,” Rahming said. “She wouldn’t compromise.”
That enthusiasm wasn’t limited to Florida.” Though final tallies aren’t yet in for Election Day, early voting increased across the South — what some are calling a “Blacklash. From Louisiana and Mississippi to Georgia and Texas, Black voters say that they approached the midterms with a sense of urgency fueled by concerns ranging from the rising cost of living to threats to voting rights and Black political representation.
Data paints a picture of this enthusiasm nationwide. In U.S. House races, about 91% of Black voters backed Democrats, compared with just 8% who supported Republicans, according to The New York Times. This was a 10-point shift toward Democrats from 2024.
Whether you call it a “Blacklash” or something else, the message from Black voters, especially those in the South, was clear: At a moment when representation secured through generations of struggle was once again under threat, they weren’t about to surrender it without a fight.
Eleven miles south, in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, Roots Bookstore co-owners Phil Agnew and Isaiah Thomas hosted an election night watch party with Berkeley, California-based pastor Michael “Pastor Mike” McBride, holding a live podcast as election results trickled in throughout the evening.
The inside of Roots Bookstore was packed with Black and brown residents watching the Florida election play out. As results for the hotly contested race between Nixon and her Republican rival, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, came in, so did the groans from about two dozen attendees. Nixon lost to Moody narrowly, by 2.9 percentage points, according to the AP.
Thomas, 37, cast his vote for Nixon, who’d been a fervent supporter of the Black-focused bookstore when it was still just a concept. He credited her presence and energy with Miami-Dade County going “blue.”
“Angie is the people,” he said. “She is the community.”
Despite her loss, residents are excited about the new energy Nixon brought to the city, with some saying that she sparked a fire they hadn’t seen in years. This week, they say, was a reminder of what Black voters could accomplish when they’re loud enough.
Louisiana: determined to be heard
More than 900 miles away in Baton Rouge, Sonya Knox admitted that she hadn’t followed every development in Louisiana’s midterm elections. But she felt that she couldn’t stay home.
“I hadn’t paid much attention to [what’s going on], but I know that I needed to get my Black ass out and vote,” the 65-year-old told Capital B.
For Knox, it was impossible to separate this determination from fears she has about the future of Black political representation. She believes that, for months now, the political gains that Black Americans before her fought for have been the deliberate targets of political attacks.
“They trying to take all our voting rights from us,” she said. “So that’s why I get out. I walk out and make sure I vote.”
Her concerns reflected the stakes of an election in which Louisiana’s Black political representation was under significant pressure. Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Republicans eliminated one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts, prompting Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields to give up reelection. Meanwhile, Black voters accounted for more than 34% of early ballots, a record for a congressional midterm in Louisiana, as Democrat Jamie Davis mounted a surprisingly strong Senate campaign against Republican Julia Letlow, despite ultimately losing.
Regrettably, Knox said, this enthusiasm wasn’t matched by financial support from national Democrats. State party chairman Randal Gaines and Democratic strategist James Carville both expressed frustration over their unsuccessful efforts to attract national campaign money. Davis said that the national party had provided no financial support.
Still, the priority for Knox and others was making sure that as many Black Americans as possible participated in the election. After voting, she planned to go home and bring her grandson to the polls.
“He’s a young Black man, and he needs to be out here,” Knox said.
At the same polling site in Baton Rouge, Mark Harris was equally determined. He, too, pointed to the fact that Black Americans have been battling for the right to the franchise for generations, and he rejected the notion that casting a ballot is inconsequential.
“The best thing we could do to show them that we not scared is to show up,” the 29-year-old told Capital B. “If it didn’t count, why all the people in power stop us from voting?”
With all the talk about the generational divide and younger people not voting, Harris offered a reminder that not everyone his age was blind to the importance of the franchise.
Mississippi: voting for something new
As a little girl, 34-year-old Holmes County resident Aisha Scaffold accompanied her parents to the polls every election. This nurtured a habit: She hasn’t missed an election since she became old enough to vote.
“We’ve been voting before we could even vote,” she told Capital B.
But this year’s midterm elections felt especially consequential. Scaffold had watched loved ones struggle with high grocery and gas prices, including her father, a cattle farmer. Their experiences bolster her belief that elections directly impact the financial pressures many Mississippi families grapple with.
“It just makes you want to go ahead and make sure you’re doing your civic duty,” she said.
Such fears were front and center in one of Mississippi’s most closely watched races in years. Democrat Scott Colom, a district attorney, challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, potentially becoming the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction. The contest, which may not be called for days, has attracted national attention. Former President Barack Obama endorsed Colom, while President Donald Trump threw his support behind Hyde-Smith. Black voters who are frustrated by rising prices and Mississippi’s political future see the competitive race as an opportunity to challenge Mississippi’s deeply entrenched Republican establishment.
Colom said that the enthusiasm for his campaign springs from the people. He noted contributions from all 82 counties as well as town halls that brought in crowds of hundreds of people, arguing that it was grassroots support that eventually convinced national Democrats that the race was worth paying attention to.
“The best thing we could do to show them that we not scared is to show up.”
Mark Harris, voter
“What people are telling me is they want a fighter for Mississippi, a fighter that understands the issues that matter, and somebody that’s going to work to make their life better,” Colom told Mississippi Public Broadcasting.
Scaffold cast her ballot for Colom. She believes that Hyde-Smith’s time in office has brought little improvement to the lives of ordinary Mississippians, and she was impressed by Colom’s familiarity with the concerns of communities such as hers.
“He’s a politician, but it just makes you feel like, OK, this is the person I want to speak for me, to represent me in Washington,” Scaffold said.
While Scaffold has been voting since she was 18, it took others a few years to understand why they needed to vote.
Georgia: a new generation steps up
Aliyah Jackson was frustrated with the economy and with people in power making decisions about her future. At 22, she had never voted in an election, but this year, she concluded that sitting out wasn’t on the table.
“This was my first time voting, and so I’m really proud to have had the opportunity to come out here and make sure that my vote matters,” the Atlanta resident told Capital B.
Not wanting to cast a ballot without knowing the candidates, she researched their positions and considered who might take her priorities seriously.
“If I really feel passionate about that, then I’ll make sure that my say counts,” she said.
Georgia’s elections offered a significant display of Black voting power, led partly by concerns about the economy and an insistence on making every vote count. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, faced Republican Rick Jackson for governor. She ultimately won, a triumph that will make her the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. This stunning breakthrough came in a state where Black voters have long played a vital role in politics. About 9 in 10 Black women supported Bottoms, the same share that backed Kamala Harris’ 2024 run for president, according to the AP. The figure was the same for Black men, though just three-quarters supported Harris.
For Schuyler Bond, 36 and a native Atlantan, the election brought to mind another concern — whether younger Black Americans fully appreciated the sacrifices from their elders that made their participation possible.
He said that he too often encounters people, including millennials like himself as well as members of Generation Z, who write voting off. He urges voters with these impulses to research candidates and recognize the power of their ballots.
“It’s something you shouldn’t leave to the wayside, or you’d be spitting in your ancestors’ faces,” he said.
Texas: a hard-fought breakthrough
Election Day in Houston was dreary and rainy, with storms rolling through the eastern part of the state. Despite the weather, though, the mood around the midterm races was the furthest thing from subdued, according to Algenita Davis, a 76-year-old resident of the city’s Third Ward.
“There has been more conversation about this election than any other election in my entire life,” she told Capital B.
Across Houston, Davis said, volunteers had been stepping in to help voters, and particularly seniors, get to the polls. Some were even offering rides in their personal vehicles. Davis feared that the weather and Texas’ lengthy ballots might discourage participation, but she was “prayerful” that voters would push through and make their voices heard.
Her prayers came true. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race, delivering the party its first statewide victory in more than three decades. The win highlighted the significance of Black voter participation in a state where voting restrictions still are cause for concern. But the outcome wasn’t a foregone conclusion. After Talarico beat U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary, many wondered if he’d be able to mobilize Black voters, who had largely backed Crockett. Talarico pledged to spend millions on Black voter outreach, hoping to energize a constituency he couldn’t win without.
Even before Election Day, those efforts bore fruit. According to the NAACP, Black early and absentee voting in Texas was up 53% compared with the same point in the 2022 midterms, with the increase driven by early in-person voting. This figure provides a snapshot of the enthusiasm that helped Talarico to achieve a breakthrough in the state.
“The story of this election is not just about who won,” said Dominik Whitehead, the NAACP’s chief of field, membership growth, and unit sustainability. “It’s about the Black wave of voters who understood what was at stake and made their voices heard.”
Capital B staff writers Aallyah Wright, Alyssa Johnson, and Ann Hill Bond contributed to this report.
