HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes is not a member of the historically black sororities and fraternities known as the Divine Nine.
But during her hard-fought re-election campaign this year, Hayes, the first black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, sometimes felt like she was a fellow sister, in the way black Greek organizations exploit sisterhood. On their own, members have shown up to call voters, organize fundraisers, knock on doors, cheer Hayes on at campaign events and even offer pro bono legal assistance.
“I had people from Massachusetts come as volunteers,” said Hayes, a Democrat seeking a fourth term. “I’ve had people who had previously thought about going to a battleground state like Pennsylvania say, ‘No, we’ll stay here and help with this race in Connecticut.'”
Voting candidates like Hayes — particularly Black women — have benefited this year from a surge in support from volunteers who happen to be members of Black Greek organizations, many of which were motivated by Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy. The vice president is a long-time member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, founded in 1908 at her alma matter, Howard University. Harris committed to AKA in 1986 as a senior at Howard University.
The nine historically black sororities and fraternities, collectively known as the National Pan-Hellenic Council, are nonpartisan and are not permitted to endorse candidates due to their nonprofit status. The organizations focus on voter registration campaigns, civic engagement and non-electoral initiatives and are careful not to show favoritism to any particular candidate. But many of the groups’ members have been “extremely active” as individuals in federal and state elections across the country this year, said Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
“I think this is part of the Kamala Harris effect,” Harrison said during a recent visit to Connecticut.
Women affiliated with all D9 sisters were on a bus tour through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to support Black women in voting.
Together with other volunteers, they knocked on hundreds of doors, made thousands of calls and sent hundreds of postcards urging people to vote. The trip was organized by the Higher Heights for America PAC, a nearly 13-year-old organization that works to elect progressive Black women.
Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. showed off their purple and cream colors as they campaigned in Maryland for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, a fellow Delta native who is in a closely watched race against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Volunteers who are members of the D9 sorority also advocated for Democratic U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha who is running for U.S. Senate. If both candidates are elected, it would be the first time two black women have served in the Senate at the same time.
Latosha Johnson, a social worker from Hartford, recently participated in a phone banking session to vote for Hayes along with other black women who, like her, are members of Delta Sigma Theta. She said many black and brown voters realize the election has particularly high stakes. And if Harris wins, she will need allies in Congress, Johnson said.
“If we don’t get her a Congress that’s capable of getting things done,” Johnson said, “it’s going to be difficult.”
Hayes is in a rematch against former Republican George Logan, a former state senator who identifies as Afro-Latino but has not received much support from D9 members, according to his campaign.
Both Harris and former President Donald Trump are courting black voters in the final days of the presidential campaign. Harris’ campaign has expressed concern about the lack of enthusiasm for voting among black men.
While Republicans have made some progress among black voters, two-thirds still identify as Democrats. About 2 in 10 identify as independents. According to a recent poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about one in 10 people identify as Republican.
Voter registration and bipartisan efforts by sororities and fraternities to eliminate the electorate, coupled with individual member mobilization, could potentially have an impact on some of these races, said Darren Davis, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame.
“In local elections, in statewide elections, where the black vote is stronger and more concentrated than in national elections, D9 organizations have this tremendous untapped ability to reach and mobilize disaffected voters,” Davis said.
D9 fraternities were founded on U.S. college campuses in the early 1900s when black students faced racial prejudice and exclusion that prevented them from joining existing white sororities and fraternities. In a tradition that continues today, the organizations focused on mutual development, academic and personal success, civic engagement and a lifelong commitment to community service.
Many of the fraternities and sororities served as training grounds for future civil rights leaders, including Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
Alpha Phi Alpha member Brandon McGee is a former Democratic state representative who now leads the Connecticut Cannabis Social Equity Council. As the father of two daughters, he is looking forward to helping Harris and Hayes win.
“I want my babies to see me working for a woman who looks like their mother. And they look even more like their mother, a woman,” he said. “And I want my babies to know, ‘You can do the same.'”
