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, […]
Brandon Tensley
Brandon Tensley is Capital B's national politics reporter.
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
Black Congressional Representation Holds Steady Despite Fears of Steep Losses
One concern weighing on Black voters this year was: How many of their representatives — in particular those in the Congressional Black Caucus — would still have their seats after the 2026 midterm elections? That worry sprang from a specific source. Black voters were at risk of losing as many as 19 House seats as […]
Posted inNews
Angie Nixon Won’t Be Florida’s First Black Senator
After pulling off a surprise win in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in August, state Rep. Angie Nixon lost to her Republican rival, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, in the general election Tuesday, the AP projects. A longtime community organizer whose campaign prioritized affordable healthcare and a universal jobs program, Nixon was poised to become Florida’s […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
Feud Erupts in Michigan as Black Church Visits Expose Democratic Divide
As tensions boiled over in the U.S. Senate race in Michigan, Black leaders and Detroit residents put their support behind Abdul El-Sayed – and his campaign’s final push included a Black church. Surrounded by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, and pastors at Detroit’s Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
North Carolina’s Historic Black District Faces a Major Midterm Test
ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina — As early voting turnout in North Carolina’s midterm elections surged past levels seen in previous years, Mysha Holland was one of the first people in line. Organizers in the city, about 45 miles from where President Donald Trump recently held a rally for his preferred candidates, are hopeful that they […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Violence Against Women
Decades After Her Murder, a Mother’s Children Fight to Preserve Her Memory
Photos by Cornell Watson When Patrice “Monique” Jennings thinks about her mother, she thinks about how the two of them used to sit in their Murfreesboro, North Carolina, home and devour Lifetime movies. It was the early 1990s, when the network’s made-for-television dramas were a fixture for many around the country, and Mary “Evon” Jennings […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
For Black Women in Political Office, Speaking Out Can Come at a Cost
Tennessee state Sen. Charlane Oliver grew angry when she learned about the raid this month on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. This was another example of “the misogyny, the gender dynamics that are at play right now,” she told Capital B. They’re dynamics that she also has had to grapple with recently. […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy, Voting
For Black Memphis, Tennessee’s New Map Means Fighting Again for Representation
MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Cicely Sharp never saw herself becoming a full-time voting rights organizer. After what happened in May, though, she felt like she had no choice. Her brother, who lives in New Jersey, was texting her to coordinate a visit to Memphis, but she wasn’t paying much attention to him. She was watching legislative […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
This Overlooked Congressional Race Could End a Historic Barrier in the South
On the campaign trail, Arkansas congressional candidate Chris Jones has been hell bent on breaking down racial barriers to Black political representation, even as Republican-led redistricting efforts have undermined Black voting power across the South. With a slight lead in polls, Jones, 49, believes that there’s just too much at stake for him to slow […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Justin Jones Wants Black Voters to See the Bigger Fight Behind Tennessee’s New Map
When Tennessee Republicans divided Nashville among three congressional districts in 2022, the move dismantled a Democratic bastion. Just four years later, Memphis got a similar treatment. Republican lawmakers in May approved a new congressional map that cracked Memphis, gutting the state’s only remaining Democratic congressional seat. For state Rep. Justin Jones, 31, a Nashville Democrat […]
