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The Blue Flood: America Finds Its Voice Again

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — By 8:30 p.m. on election night, the story was unmistakable. America had spoken, not with a whisper but with a roar that swept from Richmond to Atlanta, from Newark to New York City. The message was clear.

Published

4 months ago

November 5, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

By 8:30 p.m. on election night, the story was unmistakable. America had spoken, not with a whisper but with a roar that swept from Richmond to Atlanta, from Newark to New York City. The message was clear. The nation had seen enough of the cruelty, chaos, and conspiracies that marked the Trump years. What followed was not a trickle of blue, but a flood.

Democrats swept Virginia in a commanding victory that turned the commonwealth deep blue once again. Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger shattered a long-standing glass ceiling, becoming the first woman ever elected governor of Virginia. Her running mate, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, made history as the first Indian American and the first Muslim elected to statewide office. Together, they secured the top two offices in the state, giving Democrats full control of Virginia’s government. In the attorney general’s race, Democrat Jay Jones defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares after overcoming a late campaign controversy involving resurfaced text messages he sent in 2022 about then House Speaker Todd Gilbert. His win marked another milestone, making him Virginia’s first Black attorney general. It was more than a state turning a page. It was the nation beginning a new chapter.

In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill captured the governor’s mansion, turning what had been a Republican-leaning swing state into a Democratic stronghold. In Pennsylvania, voters chose to retain all three Democratic Supreme Court justices, maintaining a five-to-two majority on the state’s highest court. The decision represented a firm rejection of the MAGA legal crusades aimed at rolling back reproductive rights, voting rights, and democratic norms. Even in the Deep South, the map looked different by midnight. Democrats flipped two Public Service Commission seats in Georgia, their first such victories in twenty-five years. Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens coasted to re-election. In Miami, the mayoral race advanced to a runoff with Democrat Eileen Higgins in first place, an unexpected twist in a city long seen as safely Republican.

In New York City, Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the mayor’s race, with more than two million voters casting ballots, the highest turnout for a mayoral election since 1969. In Detroit, City Council President Mary Sheffield was elected as the city’s first woman mayor. Across the country, women and people of color were not just participating in democracy; they were leading it. “The cruelty, chaos, and greed that define MAGA radicalism were firmly rejected by the American people,” Schumer said. He called the night’s results “a repudiation of the Trump agenda.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined national coverage and described the results as “a mandate for a more compassionate and forward-looking government.” The message came amid deep national strain. The ongoing government shutdown, driven by Trump-aligned Republicans, has closed Head Start centers, left millions of children without preschool care, and forced families to go without food assistance and infant formula. The election became more than a contest between parties. It became a referendum on what kind of country Americans still want to build. “Tonight, America chose to move forward,” Schumer said. And forward it went. Into a political moment defined not by grievance but by grit, not by fear but by faith in shared progress. After years of division, voters seemed to reclaim the idea that democracy still belongs to them.

“Mayor Michelle Wu has repeatedly put Bostonians first and delivered solutions to some of the biggest challenges Boston families are facing today,” EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler said. “She has defended her city against Trump and his allies, and we are proud to congratulate her on her reelection victory. As mayor, Michelle has spearheaded historical investments in affordable housing for Bostonians, and we look forward to watching her continue delivering impactful results.” “Tonight proved what we knew to be sure. Mikie Sherrill always comes out on top in tough fights,” VoteVets said in a statement. “Always committed to service, as governor, Mikie is going to focus on making life easier for everyone in New Jersey, and we’re confident she’ll get results.” Sherrill, a VoteVets-backed candidate since her first congressional run in 2018, triumphed over Trump loyalist Jack Ciattarelli, ensuring the governor’s mansion remains in Democratic hands for the first time in sixty years. “Eileen is a battle-tested leader who has fought hard for affordable housing, invested millions to strengthen hundreds of small businesses, and led efforts to expand transit,” Mackler said after Eileen Higgins’s first-place finish in Miami. “We’re confident her leadership and momentum will carry her to victory in the runoff and allow her to continue delivering for the people of Miami.”

Virginia House Democrats shattered expectations, flipping at least eleven seats to reach a sixty-two-seat majority, the largest Democratic House majority in Virginia since 1989. It is the first time in fifty years that Democrats expanded their majority in this battleground chamber, and the first time in nearly four decades that a Democratic governor will enter office with a trifecta. “EMILYs List is proud to congratulate state Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger on her critical victory in Minnesota’s state Senate District 47,” Mackler said. “Amanda has a proven track record fighting for Minnesotans in the state House, and she will continue her great work in the state Senate working to protect access to health care, investing in education, and making child care more affordable.” The victory was crucial. It marked the second time in recent years Democrats successfully defended their Senate majority and set the tone for 2026, when the full Minnesota Senate will again be on the ballot. “Through her hard work and dedication to the residents of the Queen City, she has secured real results, including the expansion of public transportation, funding for affordable housing, and investing in safer communities,” Mackler said about Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles’s re-election. “We are thrilled to witness Vi become the second-longest serving mayor of Charlotte, and we look forward to watching her continue her impactful work.”

Mississippi Democrats broke the Republican supermajority in the state Senate, with victories by Theresa Gillespie Isom, Reginald Jackson, and Johnny DuPree. It was the sixth time in two years that Democrats have broken a GOP supermajority in a state legislature. Across the map, the numbers told a story of resurgence. In Virginia, Spanberger’s margin of victory was the largest in at least forty years, flipping nearly every county blue. In New Jersey, Sherrill erased Trump’s 2024 gains among Black, Hispanic, and AAPI voters. In Pennsylvania, voters overwhelmingly supported Democratic judicial retention by wide margins. In Georgia, Democrats won non-federal statewide offices for the first time in two decades. This election, Democrats said, was a referendum on Donald Trump and his failure to deliver for working families. Party officials said Trump sold out Americans to benefit billionaires and himself. The DNC pointed to history, noting that when Democrats have swept the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia and the New York City mayor’s race, they have won the U.S. House majority the following year.

“American voters just delivered a Democratic resurgence. A Republican reckoning. A blue sweep,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said. “It happened because our Democratic candidates, no matter where they are or how they fit into our big tent party, are meeting voters at the kitchen table, not the gilded ballroom. From New Jersey, Virginia, and New York, to Georgia and beyond, Democrats ran campaigns relentlessly focused on costs and affordability. They ran on a vision that connected to the core of hardworking families across the country. And to all the Republicans who have bowed a cowardly knee to Trump all year, consider this: we’re coming after your jobs next. Over the next year, the ability to stop Trump in his tracks runs directly through the Democratic Party. We will earn every vote. We will win.” The victories were sweeping, including Spanberger, Hashmi, and Jones in Virginia, Sherrill in New Jersey, Supreme Court justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht in Pennsylvania, Dr. Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard in Georgia, Proposition 50 in California, Question 1 in Maine, Zohran Mamdani in New York City, and a double-digit gain in the Virginia House of Delegates. “The American people made themselves clear,” Martin said. “This was not just an election about politics. It was about decency, democracy, and the kind of nation we still want to be.”

Stacy M. Brown

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#NNPA BlackPress

Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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#NNPA BlackPress

Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

admin

Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,