Inspired by Harris, many members of black sororities and fraternities help with downballot races

HARTFORD, Conn – U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes is not a member of the historically black sororities and sororities known as the “Divine Nine.”

But all over her hotly contested re-election campaign this year, Hayes, the first black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, sometimes felt like she was a different sister, a term used by black Greek organizations to refer to sorority sisters. Members themselves showed up to call voters, organize fundraisers, knock on doors, cheer on Hayes at campaign events, and even offer pro bono legal assistance.

“I asked the people of Massachusetts to volunteer,” said Hayes, a Democrat seeking a fourth term. “I’ve met people who had previously considered going to a battleground state like Pennsylvania and said, ‘No, we’ll stay here and help with the Connecticut race.’”

Toss-up ballot candidates like Hayes — especially Black women — have benefited this year from a surge in support from Black-owned volunteers, many of whom were inspired by Kamala Harris’ presidential run. The vice president is a longtime member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which was founded at her alma mater, Howard University, in 1908. Harris announced she was a senior at Howard in 1986.

The nine historically black sororities and sororities, known collectively as the National Pan-Hellenic Council, are nonpartisan and cannot endorse candidates due to their nonprofit status. Organizations focus on voter registration efforts, civic engagement, and non-election initiatives and are careful not to show favoritism to any particular candidate. But many group members, as individuals, have been “extremely active” in federal and state races across the country this year, said Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“I think it’s part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said during a recent visit to Connecticut.

Women affiliated with all D9 sororities recently went on a Get Out the Vote bus tour of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to support Black women as they vote.

Together with other volunteers, they knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of phone calls and sent hundreds of postcards urging people to vote. The trip was organized by Higher Heights for America PAC, a nearly 13-year-old organization that works to elect progressive black women.

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. showed off their crimson and cream as they fought in Maryland for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate Angela Alsobrooksanother Delta member who is in a closely watched race against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Volunteer members of the D9 association also campaigned for Democrats U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester Delaware, honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha running for the U.S. Senate. If both candidates were elected, it would mean that two black women for the first time they simultaneously sat in the Senate.

Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently participated in a phone banking session encouraging votes for Hayes with other black women who, like her, are members of Delta Sigma Theta. She said many Black and brown voters realize the stakes in the election are especially high. And if Harris wins, she will need allies in Congress, Johnson said.

“If we don’t give her a Congress that can move things forward,” Johnson said, “it’s going to be difficult.”

Hayes is in a rematch with former Republican George Logan, a former state senator who identifies as Afro-Latino, but has not seen a surge of support from D9 members, according to his campaign.

Both Harris and former President Donald Trump are court black voters in the final days of the presidential race. Harris’ campaign expressed concern lack of enthusiasm for voting among Black men.

While Republicans have made some progress Black voterstwo-thirds still identify as Democrats. About 2 in 10 people identify as independent. According to a recent USA poll, about 1 in 10 people identify as Republicans AP-NORC Public Affairs Research Center.

Voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts by fraternities and sororities, combined with individual member mobilization, could potentially have an impact on some of these races, said Darren Davis, a political science professor at the University of Notre-Dame.

“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the Black vote is stronger and more concentrated than in national elections, D9 organizations have this enormous, untapped ability to reach dissatisfied voters and mobilize them,” Davis said.

D9 fraternity groups originated on U.S. college campuses in the early 20th century when black students faced racial prejudice and exclusion that prevented them from joining existing white sororities and fraternities. In a tradition that continues today, the organizations focused on mutual upliftment, educational and personal achievement, civic engagement, and a lifelong commitment to community service.

Many fraternities and sororities served as training grounds for future civil rights leaders, including the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Alpha Phi Alpha member Brandon McGee is a former Democratic state representative who currently heads the Connecticut Council for Social Equality on Cannabis. As the father of two daughters, he’s excited to help Harris and Hayes win.

“I want my children to see me working for a woman who looks like their mother. And even beyond the fact that they look like their mother, a woman,” he said. “I want my kids to know, ‘You can do the same.'”