Black, Millennial, & Male: The Democratic Party’s New Cohort Of Federal Candidates

Jevin Hodge (L), State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (C) and Wisconsin Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes (R) are … [+] running for federal office and hoping to change the face of the Democratic Party
Richard Fowler
Recent U.S. Census data makes it very clear that the American population and its electorate are more diverse. From 2010 to 2020 population growth has been attributed to people of color those identifying as Black, Latino and Latina, Asian American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Native American, and as two or more races.
These findings make it clear the Democratic Party’s new front for electoral victory will be reaching these demographics, hence the uptick in Black, millennial, male candidates running up and down-ballot. Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, and Arizona business and community leader Jevin Hodge are three candidates, all running for federal office.
These young men are Black and millennials. Barnes and Kenyatta are asking voters in their state to elect them to the U.S. Senate. Hodge is urging Arizonas 6th District voters to oust a Trump-backed incumbent and flip the seat to the Democratic Party. All three of them, if elected, would make history as the first Black men and some of the youngest ever to represent their states in the U.S. Congress.
State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, 31, wants Pennsylvania voters to change how they elect their members of Congress. Instead of a traditional campaign, Kenyatta says he is building a movement based on the voices and issues of working-class people and changing the climate in Washington. In Pennsylvania, our campaign is the only one speaking for working-class people. I am a working-class person, and when you think about the Senate, you have a playground for the elite,” Kenyatta said.
“It is critical that working people have a chance to speak for themselves, Kenyatta added. We need elected leaders willing to enter the critical needs of working families.”
Like Kenyatta, Mandela Barnes comes to his political race and the center stage of the Democratic Party and progressive movement as a young person with a wealth of lived and governing experience.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN -Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes speaks to the crowd during the … [+] 48th Annual Juneteenth Day Festival on June 19, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images for VIBE)
Getty Images for VIBE
“As lieutenant governor, I made a point of visiting every county in the state of Wisconsin, said Barnes, 34. I have had the chance to hear stories of fellow citizens whose stories are incredibly different from mine. The challenges that people face in the rural part of the state that are so similar to challenges that people are facing in my hometown of Milwaukee.
The merit of lived experience is also at the cornerstone for Jevin Hodges campaign for the U.S. Congress in Arizonas 6th Congressional district. As the population and influence of Arizona’s emerging electorate continues to grow, and more voices clamor for a seat at the table, the Tempe native, community leader and businessman has become a consistent voice for voters in those expanding groups.
“I hope that my candidacy for Congress is a breath of fresh air. People are hungry for innovation, vision, and a leader that has been in the community, said Hodge, 27.
There is a real desire out there for elected leaders willing to stand up and be there, especially in a time when we are ridden with division, dismay, and destruction,” he added. I plan to lean into lived experience and ask folks in this district a simple question: What issue do you care about the most?”
Adjoa B. Asamoah, the 2020 Biden-Harris Campaign National Advisor for Black Engagement, social impact strategist, and racial equity expert, said candidacies like that of Hodge, Barnes, and Kenyatta are an outgrowth of young people doing the work to strengthen an ever-broadening voting coalition.
Adjoa B. Asamoah has spearheaded legislative victories to legally establish the nations first … [+] Office on African American Affairs, and to introduce and pass the historic anti-hair discrimination CROWN Act.
Adjoa Asamoah
“Young Black men must not be forgotten when we talk about what’s required to win on the considerably more diverse democratic side, Asamoah said.
It was a multiracial, cross-class, and intergenerational coalition that delivered our win in November,” she added. If we’re to be serious about advancing equity, racial equity, in particular, we’re going to have to ensure there is more equitable representation in elected offices nationwide and specifically in D.C., while intentionally focusing on the need to right historical wrongs, Asamoah said.
With more than two years under his belt as lieutenant governor, Barnes has been the leading force behind the state’s efforts for equitable and sustainable governancea call that has become even louder during the dual-pandemics of COVID-19 and fight against racial injustice.
“Wisconsin is home to some substantial racial disparities including education, mass incarceration, access to homeownership, and income disparities,” said Barnes. “Equity is about evening out the playing field. My fight for equity is about ensuring that no matter your family’s background, ZIP code, or family income, you should be able to get ahead.”
Evening out the playing field is something that unites all three men in their quest for congressional office and is tied back to their respective lived experiences and their time in the public eye.
Kenyatta has been connected to working people for much of his adolescence and young adult life. Coming from a household run by a home healthcare aid and social worker, Kenyatta started working at age 12 as a dishwasher in a Philadelphia vegan soul food restaurant.
“For far too long, we have had a U.S. Senate that doesn’t understand in their bones what is broken for folks because they don’t have that lived experience, said Kenyatta. How can we continue to feel comfortable with T.V. commercials with millionaire candidates [telling] you they can solve all the issues of working people?”
When asked about his lived experience, Jevin Hodge stressed the importance of civic engagement instilled in him from his single mother. My mother raised both my brother and I by herself and she taught us the importance of leveraging the opportunities we have,” said Hodge.
Arizona Businessman Jevin Hodge pictured with his mother Berdetta Hodge (C) and his younger brother … [+] Jazin Hodge.
Jevin Hodge for Congress
It was that leverage that pushed Hodge to attend The George Washington University, become the vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and board member for Best Buddies Arizona, and make a run for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2020. In that race, Hodge lost to the incumbent by less than 500 votes. This summer, Hodge decided to run for Congress.
In leveling the playing field, Hodge also discussed many of the barriers that exist for young Black male candidates. We as candidates face institutional, wealth, and knowledge gaps that come with being a first-time candidate lacking a wealthy family background, well-connected friend, or mentors already serving the Congress, Hodge said.
For Wisconsins Barnes, his pursuit to root out inequality started as a young man sitting at his parent’s kitchen table. As the son of a public-school educator and a United Auto Workers assemblyman for General Motors, Barnes has had a front row seat in the fight for working families and maintaining a thriving middle-class.
MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 18: In this screenshot from the DNCCs livestream of the 2020 Democratic … [+] National Convention, Wisconsin Lieutenant Gov. Mandela Barnes announces the Wisconsin delegates during the virtual convention on August 18, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images) (Photo by Handout/DNCC via Getty Images)
DNCC via Getty Images
Barnes says, to fulfill the legacy instilled by his parents, he became an Interfaith Social Justice Coalition organizer in his hometown. He later served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, becoming the youngest elected statewide official before moving onto the Badger States lieutenant governorship. 
“I was organizing the Milwaukee community around good jobs and economic development, public education, immigration, and treatment over prison, Barnes said. I decided to run for office because I had a deeper understanding of the issues and realized that many impacts come from the state level. So, the question became, do I sit around and keep waiting, or do we try another route and run for office?”
Barnes entered the race for Senate late this summer. Following his announcement, endorsements started rolling in from local, state, and national progressive and Democratic leaders.
“The goal when I get to the Senate is to change the game,” Barnes enthusiastically said.
Kenyatta is already changing the game in Pennsylvanias state capitol, as the first openly gay, Black men to run for U.S. Senate and the first openly gay person of color elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He currently serves as vice chair of the Philadelphia delegation.
“Policy and who wins or who loses is not a game. It is not a sport, said Kenyatta in a phone interview while traveling between campaign events. Throughout this pandemic, we have seen all the issues that have not been addressed become exacerbated. We can’t move forward and fix the problem we have unless those most impacted by the problems are part of the conversation.
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta pictured with his partner Dr. Matthew Jordan Miller taken in their … [+] hometown of Philadelphia, PA.
Malcolm Kenyatta
As an openly gay, Black, millennial man running for U.S. Senate Kenyatta has begun to chart a new course for how Democratic Party candidates should look. With Congressman Mondaire Jones (NY-17-D) and Ritchie Torres (NY-15-D) being the first openly Black gay men elected to U.S. Congress during the 2020 election, Kenyatta could be continuing a trend closely connected to Americas growing openness.
Bravery is contagious, he said. I have been Black and gay my entire life, and this isn’t a super unique thing to me. Our young people can’t be what they can’t see. This campaign is about ensuring that folks see themselves and their issues in our movement.
If elected all three of these young Black men will be forced to tackle the hyper-partisanship divide of Washington, D.C.s political atmosphere.
Hodge has a photo entitled Hair Like Mineaffixed to his Arizona office wall. Its a picture taken in 2009 depicting a five-year-old Black child touching the head of former President Barack Obama. The child was asking whether Obamas hair was the same as his a touching and sentimental moment holding significance to Hodge who stresses the importance of turning down the temperature in the U.S. capital. Yelling back and forth about right or wrong gets us nowhere. We need to spend some time listening to each other and working toward common ground, he said.
“I have over $100,000 in student loans, and issues like the student loan debt crisis need to be articulated in a way that will help folks understand the real pain being felt by Americans, Hodge added.
Barnes plans on ending the rural urban divide. He said, Too often, our leaders want to divide us rhetorically along the lines of rural and urban…but the challenges remain the same. We need to be having a top-to-bottom conversation because inequality exists in all parts of Wisconsin and throughout the country.”
Kenyatta, Barnes and Hodge are hoping to build a multiracial and intergenerational coalition that includes both progressive voters and disaffected Republicans alike with a unifying message connected to the kitchen table and working family issues.
There is a real desire out there for elected leaders willing to stand up and be there, especially in a time when we are ridden with division, dismay, and destruction,” said Jevin Hodge.
All three candidates will appear on the November 8, 2022, ballot if they can secure victory in their respective primaries. Beyond the vote, Kenyatta, Barnes, and Hodge seemed to have already claimed a victory for changing the face of both our electoral politics and the Democratic Party.read more