Tim Scotts Run for President Shines a Spotlight on Black Republicans
May 21, 2023,
5:00 a.m. ET
Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, addressed the Charleston County Republican Party at a dinner in February, offering a stirring message of unity and American redemption that has become the center of his stump speech. The next day, he called the chairman of the county party to ask for his support.
Mr. Scott told the chairman that he was considering a presidential run. The chairman, who had planned to endorse former President Donald J. Trump, told the senator he would switch allegiances and back him instead.
The exchange was, in some ways, traditional party politicking as Mr. Scott works to build support in his home county and in his home state. But it also underscored a subtle change shaping G.O.P. politics both men are Black Republicans.
Im pretty locked in helping Senator Scott in every way that I possibly can, said the former county party leader, Maurice Washington, who stepped down from his role as chairman in April. It was Mr. Washington, Charleston Countys first Black Republican chairman and a longtime ally of Mr. Scotts, who first encouraged him to run for a county council seat
nearly 30 years ago.
Mr. Scott, who plans to formally announce his presidential campaign on Monday, will become one of a handful of Black conservatives to run for president in recent years. Herman Cain made a bid for the White House in 2011 and Ben Carson did so in 2016, but neither garnered widespread support. Mr. Scott will be the second Black conservative to enter the 2024 race: Larry Elder, a talk radio host who ran unsuccessfully for governor in Californias 2021 recall election, announced his long-shot campaign last month.
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Mr. Scott has been popular among Republicans and has a sizable campaign fund but his campaign is seen as a long shot.
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Patrick Semansky/Associated Press
As a U.S. senator and a former member of the House of Representatives with roughly $22 million in campaign funds, Mr. Scott will begin as more of a contender than most of his predecessors, and he will be one of the best-funded candidates in the 2024 presidential primary. His support is currently in the low single digits, according to public polling. But his candidacy could raise not only his profile, but those of Black conservatives across the country.
Black Republicans are a small group of voters and politicians who say they often feel caught in the middle ignored and subtly discriminated against by some Republicans, ridiculed and ostracized by many Democrats. Those elected to office have expressed frustration that they are viewed not simply as conservatives but as Black conservatives, and they often decry what they describe as the Democratic obsession with identity politics.
I think the commonality of virtually all Black conservatives is that we dont think were victims, said Mr. Elder, who has emphasized his roots in both California and the segregated South. We dont believe were oppressed. We dont believe that were owed anything. He and Mr. Scott share a belief in hard work and education and self-improvement, Mr. Elder added. So it would not surprise me that he and I are saying the same things, if not in different ways.
Other Black Republicans have won state races and primaries since the 2022 midterms. On Tuesday, Daniel Cameron defeated a well-funded opponent in Kentuckys Republican primary for governor. Mr. Cameron, the first Black man to be elected attorney general in Kentucky, is the Trump-endorsed protg of Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader. Last year, a record number of Black Republican candidates ran for state offices. With Mr. Scott in the Senate and four Republicans in the House, there are now five Black Republicans in Congress the most in more than a century.
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Im pretty locked in helping Senator Scott in every way that I possibly can, said Maurice Washington, Charleston Countys first Black Republican chairman, who stepped down in April.
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Travis Dove for The New York Times
Still, the number of Black Republicans who won seats last year is a fraction of the total number who ran for state and local office under the G.O.P. more than 80. And the Republican Partys inroads with Black candidates have yet to overcome enduring feelings of distrust among Black voters toward the party. The ascension of Black Republicans such as Mr. Scott and Mr. Cameron comes against the backdrop of a Republican Party that has largely stood by as some of its members have employed overtly racist rhetoric and behavior.
Shermichael Singleton, a Black Republican strategist and a former senior adviser to Mr. Carson, said that he spent a lot of time in 2016 determining how Mr. Carsons hyper-conservative campaign message could remain in step with the party line without alienating critical voting groups. The challenge was twofold: overcoming Black voters negative perceptions about Republicans while building a winning coalition that could include some of them.
Its just more unique and more challenging if youre a Black person because of our unique experiences politically and the distrust that most of us have for both parties, but the overwhelming distrust that we have is for Republicans, Mr. Singleton said. Because they are perceived as being anti-progressive on race.
Much of the partys base and its presidential contenders have become focused on opposing all things woke, using the term as a catchall pejorative for the broader push for equity and social justice. In the partys embrace of being anti-woke, several Republican-led state legislatures have aimed to ban books written by Black authors and limit conversations about slavery, the civil rights movement and systemic racism in the classroom and elsewhere.
For many in the Republican Party, its members of color are proof of its inclusivity. The success of a candidate like Mr. Scott the first Black Republican to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction helps in part to rebut claims that the G.O.P. is inherently racist or, more broadly, that systemic racism remains an issue in America, Republicans say.
In speeches, Mr. Scott has criticized the victim mentality he believes exists in American culture, and has blamed the left for using racial issues as a means of further dividing the electorate. Mr. Elder said racism has never been a less important factor in American life than today.
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Daniel Cameron, the first Black attorney general of Kentucky, won the primary race for governor on Tuesday. He will face Andy Beshear, a popular Democrat who is seeking re-election in a typically deep-red state.
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Jon Cherry for The New York Times
What Black Republicans have to do is they either have to lean all in and just be an unapologetic, uncritical supporter for where the Republican Party is now, or they have to find a way to walk that tightrope of not alienating the party, but also not alienating their community, said Leah Wright Rigueur, an associate professor of history at Johns
Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 9:00 am