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Record number of Blacks running for major public office.
1974 (Oct 31)
The Voter Education Project (VEP) in Atlanta reported the record number of 118 Blacks were seeking major public office in the November general elections in nine southern states. Seven Blacks were seeking congressional seats, fourteen were candidates for state senate seats, and the remaining ninety-seven Blacks were candidates for state houses. The VEP predicted that at least thirty-one of the candidates for state legislative seats would be successful. In 1962, when the VEP first began monitoring and promoting Black political participation in the South, there were no Black members in any southern legislature. The Black political progress continued despite “repulsive national political scandals and severe economic problems,” according to VEP executive director John Lewis. “The Black gains in state legislative posts in 1974, and the possible addition of at least one Black member of Congress from the South will be yet another milestone in a steady progression of Black political gains in the past few years,” Lewis concluded.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.