Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • 1 in 4 parents report being fired for work interruptions due to child care breakdowns

        Chabeli Carrazana · February 2
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: Who will be most impacted by Medicaid changes — and when

        Rebekah Barber · March 28
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Connecticut voters approved early voting. Here’s how their new secretary of state wants to make it happen.

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 13
      • Women lawmakers in Minnesota are in the vanguard of the democracy movement

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 3
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Election 2024
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Military
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th Represents Summit

Don’t miss our biggest event of 2023!

Register Today

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

The U.S. Capitol on the morning of the 2022 midterm election.
The U.S. Capitol on the morning of the 2022 midterm election. (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Election 2022

With Val Demings’ and Cheri Beasley’s losses, there are still no Black women in the U.S. Senate

The president’s party typically loses seats in the midterms, and Demings and Beasley each lost in Republican-leaning battleground states, Decision Desk HQ projects.

Candice Norwood

Breaking News Reporter

Candice Norwood headshot

Published

2022-11-08 22:36
10:36
November 8, 2022
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

We’re making sense of the midterms. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for election context and analysis.

The Senate has had no Black women since Kamala Harris became the country’s first woman vice president nearly two years ago. This year, two candidates had a chance of changing that: Cheri Beasley of North Carolina and Val Demings of Florida. Both Democrats, they emerged as competitive candidates in races that favored their Republican opponents, even surpassing them in fundraising. 

But both fell short Tuesday, Decision Desk HQ projects, and the Senate will remain without a Black woman. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

The president’s party typically loses seats in the midterms, and Demings and Beasley competed in Republican-leaning battleground states. Demings lost to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who was first elected in 2010, and Beasley to Rep. Ted Budd in the race for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Richard Burr. 

“It’s very disturbing that we would continue to have zero Black women senators for this next term. It’s another indicator that we are failing to be a truly democratic society,” said Nadia Brown, professor of government and chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Georgetown University. “We know that more diversity produces better outcomes, and so having people at the legislative table that have different lived experiences leads to better policy.”

  • More Election 2022 coverage
    Collage of Democratic and Republican Senate candidates
  • Election 2022 results: Senate races we’re watching
  • Val Demings projected to lose Florida Senate race to Marco Rubio
  • Cheri Beasley projected to lose North Carolina Senate race to Ted Budd

Demings is a former chief for the Orlando Police Department who has served Florida’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House since 2017. Beasley spent two decades as a state judge and was the first Black woman to be chief justice of the North Carolina state Supreme Court.

Historically Black women candidates face a range of challenges in their efforts to win elections. This includes fighting racial stereotypes, and gaining the necessary funding and publicity to draw voters.

Despite these hurdles, Demings and Beasley’s campaigns reflect women committed to running a race on their own terms. Both women also significantly outraised their Republican competitors.

Demings amassed more than $72 million, 53 percent of which came from small individual donations less than $200. Beasley raised more than $33 million, including nearly $11 million in small donations as of October 19. A larger share of their donations came from out of state compared to their Republican opponents. 

A woman clenches her hands and watches screens worryingly at an election night party.
Supporters react as they follows election results at an election night party for Cheri Beasley on November 8, 2022 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

“Black women have no choice but to nationalize their races because their money has to come from out of state and in state,” said Stefanie Brown James, co-founder of the Collective PAC, which supports Black political candidates. “We don’t have these built-in wealth networks to just stay in state, and to just have what’s discussed in your state be the only thing you talk about. You have to connect it to a national narrative. That’s what these women have been able to do so well.”

Despite their election losses, optimism remains about their political futures.

“Don’t count these women out,” Brown said. “They are quality candidates, and we miss the larger message if we only look at November 8. I think the larger message is that they will have another political battle in front of them.”

Beyond Demings and Beasley, in the 2022 election season, Black women set records, with at least 134 running as major-party candidates for the U.S. House, at least 22 running for U.S. Senate and at least 12 running for governor, according to tallies by the Center for American Women and Politics.

“Our work beyond November 8 is doubling down on efforts to ensure that there is a generation and cohort of Black women running and winning and serving in the U.S. Senate,” said Glynda Carr, CEO and president of Higher Heights for America, a group that supports Black women political candidates. “We will continue our efforts to draw awareness to the gaping gap in the Senate and to call out that an important voice is a Black woman’s voice.”

Explore more stories about the midterms and their impact

From abortion ballot measures to voting and races at the state and federal levels, find out what our reporters have learned about Election 2022.
Read the Latest

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The 19th Represents Summit

Don’t miss our biggest event of 2023!

Register Today

Become a member

Up Next

Cheri Beasley listens to constituents during a campaign event.

Election 2022

Cheri Beasley projected to lose North Carolina Senate race to Ted Budd

As a Democrat running in a Republican-leaning state, Beasley was tasked with not only energizing the urban Democratic base, but also connecting with rural, independent and conservative voters.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram