In Cities Battling a Pandemic and Racial Injustice, A Power Shift Is Happening
To find out if our cities are governed by officials who reflect the people they serve, we studied the race and gender of elected leaders in America’s 100 largest cities, and discovered an unprecedented groundswell in reflective democracy.
- Compared to 2016, city leaders are less likely to be white men
- Since 2016, people of color increased their share of elected offices in 58 of our 100 largest cities
- Women of color are driving the change, increasing their share of elected offices by 46%
- Yet grave imbalances persist: In most cities, women and people of color still are not reflected in government
In Atlanta and elsewhere, mayors who are women and people of color fight to protect the health of their constituents – only to find powerful white male governors standing in their way. As the COVID pandemic shines a light on the life-and-death stakes of the demographics of power, our report exposes the tensions between the status quo of white male political dominance, and the reflective momentum building in America’s cities.
In the Media
A record number of Black women were elected as mayor in 2019, a landmark moment for representation in elected office. But a study released this month of the 100 largest cities in the United States shows that white men are still overrepresented in positions of power.
“Women of color are tipping the balance of power in U.S. cities.” The Hill
‘For power to shift this significantly in a relatively short period of time is pretty encouraging,’ Brenda Choresi Carter, director of the Reflective Democracy Campaign, told Supermajority News. ‘For this to be happening in just a span of four years is really noteworthy.’
“Women of Color Have Increased Representation in City-Wide Elected Offices by Almost Fifty Percent.” Supermajority News
