THE POWER OF OUR VOTE

Black women show up and show support

• Black women are one of the most active voting blocs in the U.S. electorate.
• 17.1 million Black women are eligible to vote, and 67% are registered.

Black women decide elections.

• 90% of Black women voters supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 Presidential Election.
• 96% voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, providing the margin he needed to win two presidential terms.
• Black women made up 17% of voters who cast ballots in the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama, but they account for less than14% of the state’s population.

Black women are increasingly running and winning

• The 1st Black woman ever elected to the office of U.S. Vice-President is currently serving
• 25 Black women—the most ever—are serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Black women are currently 4.3% of all state legislators compared to 2.3% in 1999, and they make up nearly 15% of all women state legislators today.
• Black women are serving as mayors in 7 of the nation’s 100 most populous U.S. cities compared to just 2 in 2014.

But, there is still much work to do

• Black women still lack representation in important chambers of power.
• Black women are 7% of the population, yet they account for just 4.9% of all members of Congress and 3.7% of all elected officials.
• No Black women are currently serving in the U.S. Senate, and only 2 Black women have ever served in this legislative body.
• Only 6 Black women currently hold a statewide office, and a total of 16 have ever held a statewide office.
• Although more Black women are serving in state legislatures, we hold just 317 of the country’s 7,383 state legislative seats. (As of 12/31/2020)
• No Black woman has ever served as a governor in our country’s 245-year history.