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The US presidential election may be dominated by two older white men, but away from the battle for the White House a record number of women of color are running for Congress in 2020 – as US politics continues to be dragged, slowly, towards being representative of the country’s population.In November, 117 women of color are running for Congress as Democrats or Republicans. And a record 298 women in total are running for the House of Representatives on a major party ticket, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.The new high builds on 2018’s midterm elections, when a historic number of women won seats in the House. Among that number are 61 Black women, 32 Latina women, and six Native American women – record numbers for each group.In the Senate, 20 women are running as Democrats or Republicans, a decrease from 2018, but overall, the US is seeing a rising trend.“This year’s numbers are a positive sign that 2018 wasn’t necessarily an anomaly,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics.“What this year also points to positively is a continued diversification of the women who are running for office and who are getting nominations.”Women are almost 50% of Democratic nominees this year, Dittmar said. They make up a much smaller proportion of Republican nominees – although the GOP has seen a spike in female candidates compared with previous years.Here are just a few of the women to watch in November:Candace ValenzuelaIf Candace Valenzuela can win in Texas’s 24th congressional district, she would become the first Black Latina in Congress. The district has been represented by a Republican since 2005, but Democrats have a real chance of flipping it in November.“We’re seeing trailblazing women of color step up and run for office all across the country,” Valenzuela told the Guardian.“But women like me aren’t running to be the ‘first’, we’re running to serve our communities, by lowering healthcare costs, stopping the spread of this virus, and getting folks back to work safely.”A former school board representative, Valenzuela has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and progressive and centrist Democrats alike. She faces the Republican candidate Beth Van Duyne, whom Trump has endorsed.“I ran for my local school board to ensure every north Texan has access to the opportunities that enabled me to overcome childhood homelessness and become the first in my family to go to college,” Valenzuela said.As we see more women and women of color running for and winning seats in office, we’re seeing the focus of our elected officials shiftCandace Valenzuela“As I fought for my community, I saw the opportunities that lifted me up were, and continue to be, under attack by Donald Trump and the corporate special interests that dominate his administration.”In a campaign ad, Valenzuela recalls sleeping in a children’s swimming pool outside a gas station after the family fled domestic abuse. She believes she can better represent people who might be struggling.“It’s time that the folks in power reflect the communities they serve. As we see more women and women of color running for and winning seats in office, we’re seeing the focus of our elected officials shift towards working families and the challenges they face.”Marquita BradshawMarquita Bradshaw’s victory in Tennessee’s Senate Democratic primary was scarcely believable, given the relative pittance she spent during her campaign. Bradshaw spent less than $10,000 – James Mackler, an attorney endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, spent $1.5m.She became the first Black woman to be a major party nominee for statewide office in Tennessee, and the only Black woman running as a Democrat or Republican for Senate.“Black women have been the heart of the Democratic party for years,” Bradshaw told the Guardian.“We vote our values but with the increasing social tensions and awareness, Black women knew it was time to step into our power. For too long, we have been kept out of the conversation.“But we are living the issues – racism, classism, sexism. I am living the issues. Black women are the cornerstones of their communities, active in churches, schools, healthcare. Our voices need to be heard and collectively, we are taking the leap.”Bradshaw is an environmental activist who supports the progressive Green New Deal, and she said the toxic damage from a military depot in her hometown of Memphis birthed her activism.For all the progress in making Congress more diverse, women still only make up about 25% of the body – something Bradshaw said must change.“It is necessary for the demographics of the Senate to represent the demographics of the country. It’s the only way to level the playing field,” she said.It is necessary for the demographics of the Senate to represent the demographics of the countryMarquita Bradshaw“Women experience the world in different ways than men. We are the caretakers and nurturers. We will introduce bills that support the environmental, educational, and economic wellbeing of our country. It’s all connected. We can’t address one without the other and we can’t fix one without fixing them all.”Bradshaw faces another uphill battle in November. Her Republican opponent, Bill Hagerty has tied his fortunes to Donald Trump in the election – the president won Tennessee by 26 points in 2016. The last Democrat elected to the US Senate in Tennessee was Al Gore in 1990.Cori BushBush, a nurse and ordained pastor, broke a decades-long legacy when she defeated Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st congressional district. Clay has represented the district since 2001, having taken over the seat from his father, Bill Clay, who had been in office since 1969.Bush rose to prominence in Missouri as an activist against police brutality in Ferguson, after Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer in 2014. In an interview with the Guardian in August, Bush said she feared for the safety of her children following the history of police killings of black people.“With the climate of our country and our world I worry about my children. My son is 20 years old, he is taller than me. He’s a black boy. I worry about [him], every single day. Every minute of the day. I’m not exaggerating,” Bush said. More
Donald Trump
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Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Thursday made it even harder.The announcement from Abbott, a Republican, limits an executive order from July that made it modestly easier for voters to return their ballots during the pandemic. Texas usually only lets voters return their mail-in ballots in person on election day, but Abbott’s July order said voters could return their ballots in person to the election clerk’s office earlier. He also extended early voting by six days.As a result, some of the biggest counties in the state had planned to offer voters multiple places to could drop off their ballots. Harris county, the most populous in the state, planned to let voters return their ballots at 11 of the clerk’s annex offices around the county. Travis county, home of Austin, planned to offer four places to return their ballots. But the move drew backlash within his own party; Republicans sued the governor over the changes.On Thursday, Abbott backtracked on his earlier order and issued a new executive order only allowing counties to offer voters a single place to return their ballots. Abbott’s order also said officials had to let official poll-watchers inspect the process.Abbott’s order quickly drew outcry and accusations of voter suppression. Texas already severely limits mail-in voting to those who are 65 and older, or who meet a select few other requirements. The state has aggressively opposed a slew of lawsuits seeking to ease those restrictions amid the pandemic. Texas has seen massive growth among Hispanic and other minority voters in recent years, and many of the restrictions in place are seen as a blatant effort to preserve white political power.Harris county clerk Chris Hollins said the new proclamation issued by Abbott “will result in widespread confusion and voter suppression”.“Multiple drop-off locations have been advertised for weeks,” Hollins said in a statement. “Our office is more than willing to accommodate poll watchers at mail ballot drop-off locations. But to force hundreds of thousands of seniors and voters with disabilities to use a single drop-off location in a county that stretches over nearly 2,000 sq miles is prejudicial and dangerous.”Abbott’s Thursday order is the latest in a series of moves Republicans across the country have made to limit how Americans can return their mail-in ballots. In Ohio, Frank LaRose, the state’s top election official, is seeking to limit each county to a single drop-box for voters to return their ballots. In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign is seeking to block the use of drop boxes. Voting advocates have stressed the need for in-person drop-off locations amid concerns about the reliability of the United States Postal Service after widespread delays this summer.Republicans are on the verge of losing, so Governor Abbott is trying to adjust the rules last-minuteGilberto HinojosaIn early September, the Texas supreme court blocked Harris county from sending absentee ballots to all of its 2.4 million registered voters. The lawsuit was brought by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.In an interview with the Guardian, Paxton said he opposes universal mail-in ballots, citing widespread voter fraud. Several studies and investigations have shown voter fraud is not a widespread problem.“I think that’s a wonderful utopia – people who don’t want to commit fraud. Fraud is much more easily associated with mail-in ballots because we don’t have any proof of who actually voted,” Paxton said. “If you open the door, your vote doesn’t matter as much. It’s being diluted by fraudulent voters. You’d be giving up your vote by making it easier for everyone to mail in their ballot.”The Texas Democratic party was quick to condemn Abbott’s order. “Republicans are on the verge of losing, so Governor Abbott is trying to adjust the rules last-minute,” Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the state Democratic party said in a statement, describing state Republicans as “cheaters”.“Make no mistake, Democracy itself is on the ballot. Every Texan must get out and vote these cowards out!” More
Tuesday night’s presidential debate was a lot of things: a debacle, a degradation, a disaster. But it was also a story about gender, and what it looks like when men lean on tired versions of white manliness to win.Donald Trump’s entire political career has rested on aggrieved white masculinity. In the president’s view – and the view of many of his followers – there is one way to be a man: you dominate, you hurt people, you use any means necessary to assert yourself as the top dog in the pack. You don’t need to earn respect or demonstrate competence in order to be elevated. You don’t need to play by the rules. You don’t need to be a good sportsman. You just need to win.This was all on full display at the first debate. Trump interrupted Joe Biden so often that the debate wound up largely content-free. When Trump spoke, he offered virtually nothing of substance; he used his time, instead, to berate Biden, Democrats, the left, Bernie Sanders and anything else that crossed his mind. He was vulgar, aggressive and rude, refusing to abide by the rules he agreed to beforehand. He was a know-nothing bully.Joe Biden brings a different kind of white manhood to the election, although it’s also a familiar one. He abides by (or claims to abide by) an old-school honor code that has long been on offer primarily to white men. Respect is earned, not demanded (although only men can really earn it). Integrity and decency make a man (although men get to define “integrity” and “decency”). A win isn’t really a win if you cheat (but men make the rules). And if another man violates your honor or threatens you or someone you love, well, sometimes a man has to use his fists.It’s all exhausting.It goes without saying that both of these models are largely off-limits for women. Nor are they particularly useful to men, although the Biden-style masculine honor model is at least less awful for everyone around him. And both of these versions of masculinity are largely put on. Yes, they reflect something at the core of both candidates – Trump truly is a pathological narcissist; Biden truly does believe that the old-school system works – but they’re also performances, a way of signaling who they want voters to believe them to be, and reflections of what each man thinks will help him win.What’s interesting, though, is that while Biden projects the kind of masculinity that many men claim to have – one premised on working hard, playing fair, having character, behaving honorably according to a clear moral code and protecting women and children – it’s Trump who most white men support. Women, on the other hand, are rejecting cruel Trumpian masculinity in record numbers. Trump faces the largest gender gap on record, with women overwhelmingly flocking to Biden. Men don’t show as dramatic a preference, but they are still going for Trump by 13 points. And this affinity is particularly pronounced for white men, with 62% of likely white male voters supporting Trump, according to a Washington Post / ABC News poll. Even more – 68% – of white men without college degrees say they are supporting or leaning towards Trump. And Trump has also made inroads with Black and Hispanic men. Biden, on the other hand, has the support of a majority of women generally, 69% of white college graduate women, and huge majorities of women of color.Trump-style manhood clearly has an appeal. He promises men that they don’t even have to do the basics – support a family, behave decently, play by the rules – to be powerful and have social status. This is especially acute for white men, who Trump insists are the true possessors of American identity and greatness. He offers a model for them: You don’t have to treat women well or be polite to your fellow citizens; you don’t need to work hard or be the kind of upstanding moral man other people admire. You just have to wave a flag, identify a large group of lesser others, and crush anyone who might question you.Men, and particularly conservative white men, have not lived up to their own expectations; in response, they haven’t just lowered the bar, they’ve chucked it in the wood chipper. Women, on the other hand, are increasingly rejecting Trump’s ruthless, immoral, macho version of manhood. The bad news, though, is that even if Trump loses, the men who embrace his vision of masculinity as male dominance aren’t going away. And it’s women who will live with the consequences. More
Opinion
Donald Trump
Charisma trumps character in modern politics
Brigid Delaney
The ancient Stoics believed nothing was more important than good character. They would be aghast at our leaders in 2020 More
US elections 2020
We’d like to hear from voters in the US about their experience of the absentee ballot system More
