Inspired by Harris, many members of black sororities are helping in downballot races

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes is not a member of the historically black sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine.”

But during her hotly contested re-election campaign this year, Hayes, the first black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, has at times felt like a fellow sorority girl, the term used by black Greek organizations for sororities. On their own, members have shown up to call voters, organize fundraisers, knock on doors, cheer on Hayes at campaign events and even provide pro bono legal help.

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

Downballot candidates like Hayes — especially Black women — have benefited this year from a surge in support from volunteers who happen to be members of Black Greek organizations, many of them boosted by the presidential election of Kamala Harris. The vice president is a longtime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded in 1908 at her alma matter, Howard University. Harris committed AKA as a senior at Howard in 1986.

The nine historically black sororities and fraternities, collectively known as the National Panhellenic Council, are nonpartisan and are not allowed to endorse candidates because of their nonprofit status. The organizations focus on voter registration, civic engagement and non-electoral initiatives and are careful not to favor any particular candidate. But many of the group’s members have been “extremely active” as individuals this year in federal and state races across the country, said Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think this is part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said during a recent visit to Connecticut.

There were women affiliated with all of the D9 sororities on a recent bus tour of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to support Black women at the vote.

Together with other volunteers, they knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of phone calls and sent out hundreds of postcards, urging people to vote. The trip was organized by the Higher Heights for America PAC, a nearly 13-year-old organization dedicated to electing progressive Black women.

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. showed off their crimson and cream colors as they canvassed Maryland for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, a fellow Delta who is closely watched against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Volunteers who are D9 sorority members also campaigned for Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha who is running for the U.S. Senate. If both candidates were elected, it would be the first time two Black women have served in the Senate at the same time.

Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently participated in a phone banking session to vote for Hayes, along with other black women who, like her, are members of Delta Sigma Theta. She said many Black and brown voters realize the stakes in the election are extremely high. And if Harris wins, she will need allies in Congress, Johnson said.

“If we don’t get her a Congress that can move things,” Johnson said, “it’s going to be difficult.”

Hayes is in a rematch against former Republican George Logan, a former senator who identifies as Afro-Latino but has seen no support from D9 members, according to his campaign.

Both Harris and former President Donald Trump are courting black voters in the final days of the presidential race. Harris’ campaign has raised concerns about a lack of voting enthusiasm among black men.

Although Republicans have made some progress among black voters, two-thirds still identify as Democrats. About 2 in 10 identify as independent. About 1 in 10 identify as Republicans, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Voter registration and nonpartisan voting efforts by sororities and fraternities, coupled with the mobilization of individual members, could potentially have an impact on some of these races, said Darren Davis, a professor of political science at New York University. Notre Dame.

“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the Black vote is more powerful and concentrated than in national elections, D9 organizations have this tremendous untapped ability to reach and mobilize disaffected voters,” Davis said.

The D9 fraternal groups were founded on American college campuses in the early 20th century when black students faced racial prejudice and exclusion that prevented them from joining existing white sororities and fraternities. In a tradition that continues today, the organizations focused on mutual upliftment, educational and personal achievement, community involvement and a lifelong commitment to community service.

Many of the fraternities and sororities served as training grounds for future leaders of the civil rights movement, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Alpha Phi Alpha member Brandon McGee is a former Democratic state representative and now leads the Social Equity Council of Connecticut on cannabis. As the father of two daughters, he is excited to help Harris and Hayes win.

“I want my babies to see me working for a woman who looks like their mother. And even apart from the fact that they look like their mother, a woman,” he said. “And I want my babies to know, ‘You can do the same.'”