Issue #191: From Shirley Chisholm to Kamala Harris

Harris will be the first Black Female nominee

On Sunday, July 21st, Joe Biden shook up the Presidential contest in a major way when he announced he was stepping aside as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election. In this move, Biden endorsed Kamala Harris, his Vice President, as his successor. As I write this, it is already clear Harris has the nomination locked up. State delegations have been coming out endorsing Harris and nearly all the major players in the party have endorsed her.

Now plenty can be written about Biden stepping down, if that was needed, and debate about a “mini-primary” before the convention. For the record, my answer is that Biden’s primary wins this year were Harris’ as well, and I think the mini-primary was beyond idiotic; some West Wing fantasy nonsense. I always said if Biden stepped aside, it would have to be Harris, and it is.

With that essentially settled, Harris will soon be officially designated the nominee at the upcoming Democratic Convention. This will make her the first Black Woman to be the nominee of a major political party. The history here cannot be overlooked. With that in mind, I wanted to repost an article I wrote back in February for my Patreon (which admittedly is dormant right now election work consuming my time). It is a piece looking at the 1972 campaign of Shirley Chisholm in the Florida Presidential Primary.

Chisholm’s candidacy is not given nearly enough focus as it should be. The NY Congresswoman ran to show the importance of Black voters in the new Democratic coalition. In it she dealt with racism and sexism; and was often dismissed by the media. I want to discuss that important and often forgotten effort. So with that, here is my February piece looking at Shirley Chisholm!

Chisholm in the Florida Primary

The 1972 Democratic Primary contest is known for several instances:  George McGovern's emergence as the nominee despite his weaknesses in the general election, Edmund Muskie's feud with a New Hampshire newspaper over his wife, and George Wallace's strong showing before his assassination attempt.  Unfortunately, the groundbreaking nature of Shirley Chisholm's campaign is often overlooked.

Chisholm's campaign was underfunded from the start and never got the proper respect or coverage it deserved.  The NYC Congresswoman, the first Black woman ever elected to Congress, knew her chances of winning the nomination were non-existent.  The goal was to obtain delegates and rack up support heading into the 1972 Democratic Convention.  This came at an era of rising Black political power; aided by the registration efforts fueled by the Civil Rights Movement and the legal protections of the Voting Rights Act.  Chisholm openly discussed that a strong showing of Black political power could aid in pushing a Black Vice-Presidential candidate for the 1972 ticket.  The Congresswoman did not expect she would be that VP pick, but that a Black man would almost surely be needed; a sadly accurate reading of the times when it came to gender norms.

"I'm running for a thousand reasons, but you must never forget that if I don't achieve the Presidency I will have been a catalyst for change”

Chisholm's campaign was not just about getting Black support, to be clear.  She ran on a platform focused on poverty and broad equality more than anything else.  Her goal was to hype up issues around poverty in her campaign, ensuring the party platform dealt with them. Her coalition aimed to be Black voters, students, and poor whites willing to cast aside old racial attitudes.  When campaigning in Apalachicola, Florida (a coastal town in rural North Florida) Chisholm talked about poor white residents having the same economic concerns as their Black neighbors.  She would never shy away from race, but made it clear her concerns were for all people.

“I am not the candidate of Black America, though I am Black and proud”

The New Hampshire Primary was March 7th, but Chisholm skipped that contest, opting to focus on the March 14th Florida Primary.  There her goal was to build a coalition of students, Black voters, and women.  However, fundraising was a major issue in her campaign, with only $300,000 being raised through the entire run.  The money for a major Florida ground game was not there.  The Democratic establishment long ignored her campaign.  Meanwhile, little financial help came from emerging Black leaders.  Chisholm would also openly speak about the frustration she felt when male Black leaders did not give her campaign any respect or aid on the campaign trail.  

"They think I am trying to take power from them. The Black man must step forward, but that doesn't mean the Black woman must step back."

In the Florida Primary, Congressional duties kept Chisholm from being able to make many stops on the trail. In January, she swung through Tallahassee and spoke at Florida State University and Florida A&M University.  In March, she made swings through the Florida panhandle, aiming to galvanize support among the Black voters that dotted the region that used to be home to plantations and slavery.  She was hosted by many prominent activists and referend leaders who touted her issues - but like so any instances before - few formal endorsements emerged.

The Opposition

The 1972 Primary field was especially large by the time voting came around. Chisholm had to try and gain attention as the national press largely focused on other candidates. 

George Wallace had rejoined the Democratic fold, and while he'd "softened" his language on different segregation issues, namely trying to back-off old verbiage, he remained the candidate of rural racists.  Wallace also had a base in working-class or suburban whites who were broadly supportive of equal rights but did not care to hear about lingering issues.  However, Chisholm would often bring up Wallace by highlighting that both spoke for poor working voters who felt the system had passed them over.  Wallace also had kind words for Chisholm on the campaign trail as well, saying she didn't pander to voters.

Hubert Humphrey, the 1968 Democratic nominee, opted to run again, seeking to be a consensus candidate in a party very divided.  Humphrey had a good deal of union backers, but notably also had a strong support block with Black voters, something that would be a problem for Chisholm.  His support with Black voters, and many Black leaders, stem from his long advocacy for Civil Rights, including a clash with segregationists at the 1948 Convention.

George McGovern, the liberal South Dakota Senator, would have a strong base of liberal anti-war voters as well as college students.  He would eventually secure the nomination, but would never have the support of party bosses, who did little for his general campaign.

Also in the mix were Washington Senator Scoop Jackson, NYC Mayor John Lindsay, and Maine Senator Edmund Muskie.  While Muskie had been a potential frontrunner, his weak win in New Hampshire and an whole controversy around a newspaper, attacks on his wife, and whether he was crying or not, led to him losing support.  (Read here for more details on that saga).

While New Hampshire had backed Muskie, he was already fading in polls and Florida was not expected to be good for him.  Rather, the man to beat there was Wallace.

The Florida Primary Results

For Chisholm, the lack of resources and attention would drag her down in the Florida primary.  The results wound up being a massive win for George Wallace, who secured 42% and finished 23 points ahead of his nearest rivals.  Chisholm would only get 3.5% of the vote.

I included a Wallace v Everyone else map to make it clear that many Wallace wins were due to a divided field.

Chisholm's share of the vote was no doubt not what she wanted.  However, buried in the Wallace landslide were some notable points.  Namely, Chisholm had demonstrated support among Black voters and students.  In Gadsden, the lone-majority Black county in Florida, she secured 29%, by far her best county.  She was strongest among Black voters across the North Florida region.

Chisholm's support among Black voters in the panhandle fueled her to rise up the ballot, securing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place showings.  She was notably under 5th place outside of the panhandle. I can delve further into the panhandle dynamics by focusing in on Leon County and Tallahassee.  Here I have precinct results AND a precinct map I was able to build from scratch. 

The Results in Leon County & Tallahassee

First, for context, this was the racial makeup of votes cast in the March Primary.  This includes Republicans, but the county at the time was overwhelmigly Democratic, so the final demographics for the primary side would largely be the same; likely with Black voters closer to 18-20% within the Democratic primary side.

By 1972, Leon's Black voter block was still growing.  Registration of Black voters began back in the 1940s in the county, which had been the site of many Civil Rights protests, including a major bus boycott.  The county was not yet the liberal hotspot it is today.  The county would grow more liberal with time as the FSU and FAMU campuses grew and a growing state agency presence would lead to more state workers.  At the time, Leon was a mix of rural white voters, a growing liberal movement in the city core, and growing Black voting block.  For more backstory on Leon, read my history piece on the county here.

Like the rest of the state, Leon County voted for George Wallace in the primary.  However, he was below 50% and did not take every precinct.  Here we see Chisholm and McGovern take precincts!

Chisholm won 3 precincts that all were majority-Black.  She took 24 and 23, which cover the southside region, and precinct 17, which covers historic Frenchtown. McGovern, meanwhile, took precinct 16, which laid just over the Florida State campus.

Chisholm's share of the vote by precinct can be seen below.  She was strongest in the city center, but also in the two northern precincts, both of which have sizeable Black populations. 

The correlation between Chisholm's vote share and the share of the vote that was Black is very strong.  The correlation with these precincts was 0.9.  For my non-statistics readers, 1.0 would be a perfect correlation.

There were two precincts in Leon that were over 90% Black.  How did the vote break down there?  See below.

Chisholm was the clear favorite of Black voters in urban Tallahassee.  However, she did not have that community to herself.  Most notable was the support John Lindsay and Hubert Humphrey had with Black voters.

Humphrey's support with Black voters would eat into Chisholm margins across Florida.  In fact, in neighboring Jefferson, also home to a large Black population, Humphrey tied Chisholm for 2nd.  Conversely, in precincts 4 and 8, both with Black shares of the vote ranging from the 40s to low 50s, Humphrey outpaced Chisholm.  Both of these precincts were decidedly more rural and Chisholm did not secure the same degree of Black support in those precincts than she did within the city.

The same day of the Democratic Primary, all voters were eligible to cast ballots for several ballot measures.  By far the most contentious was a straw ballot (non-binding) sponsored by the legislature that would call for a ban on forced busing as a means to integrate schools.  The proposal was opposed by Governor Rubin Askew, who campaigned against the measure.  However, voters in all counties backed the proposal, with even Leon giving the measure 65% of the vote.

The proposal only failed right in the heart of downtown, of course in the Black community but also with FSU students.  It was noted by commentators, and the data does bore this out, that a minority of Black voters also did not favor forced busing.  Busing has long been a contentious issue, and how Black voters fell out it could depend on how they viewed their child's current school, how they felt their child would be treated by students at heavily white schools, and many other factors.

Askew was disappointed with the busing results.  However, Askew had demanded the legislature put ANOTHER straw ballot up if they wanted the busing vote move forward.  Askew's measure would affirm that all students had a right to equal education opportunities regardless of race.  The measure was meant to affirm an end to segregation.  Basically Askew's position was "lets at least affirm we are not demanding to go back to separate but equal."  Askey likely knew the busing measure would pass.

The equal education proposal would easily pass, getting 79% statewide and winning all counties, though with some weak wins in some rural spots.  In Leon the measure topped 70% in all precinct, but then lost in one.

The precinct it lost in, 12, is covered by the Fort Braden Community.  I've actually written about them before, see here.  The precinct was 87% for the busing ban, the highest in the county, and had zero Black voters.  In the primary it gave Chisholm 0.4% of the vote.

Here I have the precinct results out of Leon and the respective support for the busing measure and the Presidential primary.

Shirley Chisholm was unable to secure a stronger showing in Florida.  She would continue her campaign through the spring and summer and take things to the convention.  She would use her campaign to advocate, though would never get the respect she deserved from the Democratic Party bosses.

In modern times, however, Chisholm's campaign has gotten more coverage for its historic nature.  My goal for this post was not just to highlight a campaign we should all know more about, but to show there were key bases of support for her.  Shirley Chisholm was the first black candidate that many Black voters could vote for.  Her historic campaign should not be forgotten.

She may not have gotten the respect she deserved at the time, but history has looked back on the 1972 effort with a much fairer light.