“What I hope happens is that he comes to the realization that African Americans are the reason I have this final six years and therefore I’m going to try and be more responsible than I have been,” Cleaver said.
Their sentiment was echoed around the capitol and in Mississippi following Cochran’s win over tea party favorite Chris McDaniel, fueled by surge in black voters in the Mississippi Delta. Turnout increased overall in Mississippi for the runoff, but counties that are majority black like Jefferson County saw voters came to the polls in record numbers.
Cochran isn’t expected to draw a huge black vote in November for the general election, but they still want him to remember his primary campaign promise to use his seniority to help his poor black constituents.
“Mississippi is the poorest state in the union,” said Fudge. “I think he is a very decent man. I also think there comes a point in time where every single elected official has to do what’s best for the people he represents and he represents, his state is 35 percent minority and poor.”
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