New Piece Explores Black Voter Shift and Identity Politics

Erec Smith, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, recently authored a new piece titled “The Rise of the Black Republican.” In the article, he examines “group consciousness” as it relates to identity politics. He spoke with the Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls, a black Republican.

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Smith examines the shift in black voters from Democrat to Republican and says that “A new crop of black political leaders is saying ‘Thanks for the history, but let’s talk about now.’ And now they’re all about faith, family, education, and personal responsibility.”

If you would like to speak with Smith about this, please reach out to mmiller@​cato.​org.