We’re exactly two weeks away from the long-anticipated midterm elections and we’re seeing a record number of Black women who are running for seats in Congress. Shine My Crown sifted through the pack to bring you five women who are top contenders in the race to become the future leaders of the nation.
Chelsea Clark
Chelsea Clark is running for election for Ohio Secretary of State. She is on the ballot in the general election. She advanced from the Democratic primary on May 3, 2022. She graduated from Elida High School and went on to study business at Miami University. Clark’s career experience includes owning and founding the Cincinnati STEM Lab and working as a financial analyst and teacher. Clark was elected to serve on the Forest Park City Council in 2017. She founded and serves as the president of Docere4Parents Inc.
Val Demings
Val Demings is a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida’s 10th Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2017. Her current term ends on January 3, 2023.
Demings is running for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Florida. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2022. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022. During her time in Congress, Demings has served on the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In 2020, Demings was named one of seven impeachment managers in the U.S. Senate trial against President Donald Trump. Prior to her time in office, Demings worked in law enforcement for nearly three decades. From 2007 to 2012, she served as Orlando’s first female chief of police.
Odessa Kelly
Odessa was born and raised in Nashville. She spent nearly 14 years as a civil servant and co-founded Stand Up Nashville, a non-profit community organization that fights for working families. She has seen firsthand how the political and economic system is rigged against working families who’ve spent their lives playing by the rules. Odessa has organized diverse coalitions and already delivered for Tennessee — now she’s ready to take the fight to Congress.
Stacey Abrams, in full Stacey Yvonne Abrams, (born December 9, 1973, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.), American politician, lawyer, activist, and writer who is an influential figure in the Democratic Party, especially known for her work involving voter rights. She gained national prominence in 2018 when she ran unsuccessfully for governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman to win a major party’s gubernatorial nomination.
Andrea Campbell
Andrea Campbell is running for election for Attorney General of Massachusetts. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2022. She advanced from the Democratic primary on September 6, 2022.
Campbell was a member of the Boston City Council in Massachusetts, representing District 4. She assumed office in 2016. She left office on January 3, 2022.
Aramis Ayala
Aramis Ayala is running for election for Attorney General of Florida. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2022. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022.
Ayala also ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District. She did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022.
Ayala (Democratic Party) was the Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney. She assumed office in 2017. She left office in 2021.
