Black Caucus chair: Don’t blame black voters for Dem losses

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) argued that low turnout among African-Americans isn’t to blame for Democrats’ midterm election losses.

Fudge said in a statement that the CBC, community organizations and churches did their part in efforts to mobilize African-Americans to vote in last Tuesday’s midterm elections.

{mosads}”We phone banked, knocked on doors and held ‘Get Out the Vote’ rallies. Our losses were not a referendum on African American political engagement. We did our part, so don’t blame us!” Fudge said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Fudge said that Democratic losses were due to low turnout among a variety of constituencies, including young voters and Hispanics. 

“Democrats lost Senate control because we failed to mobilize young voters across racial and regional spectrums,” Fudge said. “We failed to persuade Southern voters to hold true to core Democratic values. We lost because the Hispanic community was insufficiently motivated.”

The Ohio Democrat further suggested that white Southerners’ support for the Democratic Party has dwindled due to President Obama’s status as the first black commander in chief.

“We lost because of ideological differences within the Democratic Party and with our Administration. We lost because our party has, to some extent, lost white Southerners due in part to the race of our President,” Fudge said.

Exit polling from the 2014 elections found that African-Americans made up 12 percent of the electorate, a slight increase from the last midterm elections. By comparison, they comprised 13 percent in 2012 and 11 percent in the 2010 midterms. Eighty-nine percent of African-Americans voted for Democrats this year versus ten percent for Republicans.