The South Carolina African-American Chamber of Commerce has initiated an informational campaign to persuade black voters to reflect on the possibility of voting for someone who is not a Democrat in the 2016 presidential primaries and the general election.
“It’s no secret that African Americans almost always vote Democratic.” the politically independent business group said in a recent announcement, reports Columbia NBC affiliate WIS-TV.
Chamber board member Regina E. Wragg of the Palmetto State Department of Education opined that every American of every skin color and ethnicity should become well-versed in the issues they care about.
“Our choices may reflect leadership representation across lines of political affiliation,” Wragg said, according to WIS-TV. “When our choices are informed, we are best equipped to hold our leaders accountable to the privilege of our civic support.”
Stephen Gilchrist, the Chamber’s president, noted that the Republican officeholders in South Carolina represent an array of backgrounds.
“In South Carolina we have the first minority and female governor in the state,” Gilchrist told the NBC affiliate. “We also have in the state the first black Senator since Reconstruction. Those are some very significant firsts on the Republican side of the aisle that African Americans can no longer just stay silent about.”
One of South Carolina’s U.S. senators is Tim Scott, who is the first black Republican member of Congress from the state since 1897.
The governor of South Carolina is Nikki Haley. Her parents are both from India.
According to the website of the South Carolina African-American Chamber of Commerce, the group’s purpose is “to be an advocate for prosperity, progress, and the permeation of success within every county and community in South Carolina as it relates to African-American businesses.”
In the next few weeks, the Chamber announced, it will develop a questionnaire for African-American voters and for various primary candidates for South Carolina electoral offices.
The University of Connecticut’s Roper Center estimates that 93 percent of the black population in the United States voted for Democrat Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
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