A minority push
Dems go to states with more diversity
COLUMBIA, S.C. — For I.S. Leevy Johnson, the Democrats’ search for a challenger to take on President Trump is personal.
“There is what I call an ‘ABT mood’ in the black community: Anybody but Trump,” said Johnson, 77, the first black graduate of the University of South Carolina’s law school. “It has people of color very motivated and excited about voting this time because they know how his administration has adversely affected them.”
Now, as the election calendar turns to Nevada and South Carolina, states with substantial minority populations, that “anybody” moves closer to being identified. But the next stage in the nominating fight will test candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Their success thus far has come in front of overwhelmingly white electorates in Iowa and New Hampshire.
It’s also a potential last comeback opportunity for former Vice President Joe Biden. He finished poorly in those first two contests but argues he has durable support among the minority voters who will soon make their choices.
Nevada’s caucuses are Saturday and will feature a growing population of Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Yet no single place in the early going is as important as South Carolina. Up to twothirds of voters in the Feb. 29 primary could be African American. Biden, more than any other candidate, must show he can win their allegiance. One candidate who will not be tested in Nevada or South Carolina is Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire and former New York City mayor. Bloomberg has spent heavily from his personal fortune in states with sizable minority populations that will vote in the March 3 primaries. The Super Tuesday contests are the first where his name will appear on the ballot.
It adds up to a muddled field that lacks clarity even after Iowa and New Hampshire had their turns. Moderates have splintered their votes and created space for Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, to take on the mantle of a front-runner without having reached 30% in either of the first two voting states.
Sanders fell short in 2016 to Hillary Clinton for the nomination in no small part because of his struggles to attract older nonwhite voters. For 2020, he has hired as a senior adviser one of the top Latino strategists in the party, Chuck Rocha. Sanders’ lead surrogates include Nina Turner, a former Ohio state lawmaker and leading black progressive, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the young progressive icon.
“I think we’re going to do very well in the African American community,” Sanders said in a brief interview. “I think we’re going to do well among working people of all races.”
In Nevada, Biden campaigned on Saturday in a high school gymnasium covered in signs that read: “Biden Trabajando por Nevada” (Biden Works for Nevada). “The reason why we are here: 99% of the African American vote hasn’t spoken yet and 99% of the Latino vote hasn’t spoken yet.” He hammered away at Trump’s immigration policies and rhetoric.
But Biden has embraced South Carolina especially, even skipping out on his New Hampshire primary night party last Tuesday for a hastily arranged event in Columbia, the South Carolina capital.
Biden is banking on voters such as Jean Hopkins, an 88-year-old retired nurse, who came to hear him. “You’ll lose some but you may gain more,” she said of his losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. “And he’s not going to stop. He needs our help.”
Biden and Sanders lead in endorsements from members of South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus. Biden also promotes a network of black religious leaders who back his candidacy.
But he’s facing a push from California billionaire Tom Steyer, who has spent considerable sums on advertising in South Carolina.
“We are really serious about South Carolina. We are really serious about Nevada,” Steyer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He said those states “reflect the kind of diversity that is America and that is the Democratic Party. And I think whoever is going to be the candidate has got to be able to show that he or she can pull together that diverse big tent that is the Democratic Party.”
In Nevada, Biden has the backing of the state’s lone black congressman, Steven Horsford, and Dina Titus, who represents the diverse Las Vegas-based district.
But there’s a wild card in South Carolina.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress, is close to Biden but hasn’t said whether he will endorse at all. Clyburn is the rare political figure whose public blessing could matter to voters.
“I think that we’re going to have a real spirited contest,” Clyburn told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He said Steyer was “doing an incredible job. Money makes a difference. Steyer has it. He’s been spending it. And he’s reaping the rewards.” Clyburn added that Buttigieg is doing “very good” and Biden “is leading among African American voters in South Carolina by a wide margin.”