Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., believes black Democratic gubernatorial candidates Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams stumbled at the polls this week because of their skin color.
“I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there, who are not necessarily racist, who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American,” Sanders told The Daily Beast in an interview published Thursday. He was referring to Florida’s Gillum and Georgia’s Abrams, who pre-Election Day polls suggested had a decent shot of winning in their neighboring states.
Gillum conceded on Election Night to Republican rival Ron DeSantis, after official tallies showed a close loss. Gillum on Thursday said he was open to a recount as late-arriving ballots continue to be tallied. Abrams, meanwhile, has not conceded to former Georgia Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Kemp, who has claimed victory and resigned Thursday as secretary of state.
Sanders, who unsuccessfully challenged Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, said voters will become more comfortable with black candidates over time.
“I think next time around, by the way, it will be a lot easier for them to do that,” Sanders said.
In his postmortem, Sanders — an independent who caucuses with Democratic senators and a potential 2020 presidential candidate — also criticized Democrats who campaigned in the middle rather than adopting his more progressive platform. Instead, he praised Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke for the “enormous” groundswell of support he drew in a traditionally red state. Despite the enthusiasm, O’Rourke, a three-term congressman, lost his uphill battle to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
“I think you’ve got to contrast that to the votes of conservative Democrats, who did not generate a great deal of excitement within the Democratic Party, did not bring the kind of new people, new energy that they needed, and ended up doing quite poorly in admittedly difficult states,” Sanders said. “Missouri and Indiana are not easy states, but neither is Florida or Georgia or Texas.”
