After a dramatic campaign, Doug Jones became Alabama’s first Democratic senator in 25 years.
The widely watched race pitted Jones against Republican candidate Roy Moore whose campaign faltered under charges of sexual misconduct with minors.
Despite gaining an endorsement from President Trump, Moore failed to win the majority vote in the overwhelmingly White, Republican state. Exit polls suggested the reason has a lot to do with Black voters in a swath of the state identified as the “Black Belt.”
In a preliminary exit poll conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, The Washington Post and other media organizations, Black women represent only 17 percent of voters in the state but 98 percent of them voted for Jones. Black men account for 11 percent of voters and 93 percent of them voted for Jones.
Among White voters, 35 percent of White women and 27 percent of White men voted for Jones.
The poll results led to a social media meme-fest thanking black women for delivering the election to Jones.
But not everyone was on the #blackgirlmagic bandwagon.
It wasn’t long ago that Atlanta’s Mayor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms declared victory in part thanks to black girl magic.
“For all the little girls out there, who need somebody to believe that you are better than your circumstances, I️ want you all to remember that black girl magic is real…” said Lance Bottoms addressing a crowd of supporters.
Lance Bottoms was the only black woman on the ballot for mayor and she earned the highest number of votes in the general election.
Despite low voter turnout, Lance Bottoms won the runoff by a slim 759 votes. Her opponent, Mary Norwood requested a recount. The recount takes place on Dec. 14, but experts have said the results are unlikely to change the outcome of the election.
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