Black women in American elections · 2024–2025
When sisters lead, we all rise.
In 2024, 1,203 Black women ran for office, from school boards to the U.S. Senate. Those who reached the general election won about 81% of the time. In 2025 they kept going, winning city halls, courtrooms and statehouses across the country.
Act oneShe led
Black women ran at every level of government and in nearly every state. Getting through the primary is the hardest part. Once they reach November, they almost always win.
1,203 women, four ways
Every dot is a Black woman who ran in 2024. Choose a view to re-sort them, and hover any dot for its group.
The primary is the wall
Each row compares how many ran, how many reached the general election, and how many won. Bars are scaled to each office so the drop-offs can be compared. Select a row to read its story.
View as table
More candidates every cycle
Black women candidates tracked by cycle.
A small share of the field. A bigger share of the winners.
Out of every 100 candidates, and every 100 winners, in the 2024 cycle, how many were Black women?
Of ~32,000 candidates
Of ~8,000 winners
Their share grows by two-thirds from the ballot to the winner's circle.
Act twoShe voted
Black women are the most unified voting bloc in the country. That held in the 2024 presidential race and again in 2025 statewide contests.
The backbone of the electorate
2024 presidential exit polls: share of each group that voted for the Harris ticket. Select a group to see it as 100 voters.
of every 100 Black women
Source: 2024 national exit polls, as cited in Sisters Lead Sisters Vote's 2025 briefing.
View as table
2025: the pattern held
CNN exit polls from the 2025 contests, comparing Black women and Black men.
Virginia and New Jersey: share backing the winning candidates. California Prop 50: share voting Yes. Prop 50 is the one case where Black men were higher.
Act threeShe won
Barriers broken, cities run, and a bench of leaders forming inside some of the most contested congressional districts in the country.
The wall of firsts
Select a portrait to open her story. Use the arrow keys to move between profiles.
barriers shown
Where she won
Choose a layer, then select a state to see who won there.
Who they serve
Residents of the 23 cities whose Black women mayors are featured in the 2025 briefing.
Americans live in these cities
Populations are approximate (2020 Census). The party shown is the U.S. House member for each city’s district, not the mayor’s own party. Many mayoral races are nonpartisan.
She won: Virginia
17 of 100 seats. The most ever.
Black women now hold 17 seats in Virginia's House of Delegates, the most ever at one time. Four of those seats flipped from Republican to Democratic, and 13 incumbents held theirs. Hover over a face to find her seat.
Sisterhood at the helm
Members of Divine Nine sororities elected in 2025, as listed in SLSV's 2025 feature. Hover or tap a dot to see who she is. These lists are curated and not complete.
About the data
Data comes from three Sisters Lead Sisters Vote publications: Black Women Candidates in 2024 (End-of-Year Report), the 2024 Black Women Elected Yearbook, and She Led. She Voted. She Won. (2025 Post-Election Briefing). Exit-poll figures are as cited in those reports. SLSV counts only candidates who self-identify as Black women and confirms each with at least two sources.
- Totals use 1,203 candidates, 669 on the general ballot and 545 elected, as reported in the 2024 End-of-Year Report.
- Party (818 D, 331 nonpartisan, 57 R) and incumbency (435 incumbents, 771 challengers) each add up to 1,206 because some candidates appear on more than one line. The dot chart draws them as reported.
- 2020 has no full count because the national database was discontinued. Only congressional candidates are available for that year.
- Mayoral wins in 2024 reflect the mayors named in the report.
- District corrections from the 2025 briefing: CA-12 is represented by Lateefah Simon, and NY-22 by John Mannion (D).
- City populations are approximate 2020 Census figures.
- Portraits come from Wikimedia Commons (public domain or Creative Commons) and are credited in each profile.