THE BLACK MAYORS, FROM LEFT: CLETUS LEE (NORTH BRADDOCK); JAIME KINDER (MEADVILLE); DR. KENYA JOHNS (BEAVER FALLS); DONTAE COMANS (WILKINSBURG); ED GAINEY (PITTSBURGH); KAYLA PORTIS (SHARPSBURG); DWAN B. WALKER (ALIQUIPPA); DELIA LENNON-WINSTEAD (BRADDOCK); KEITH JACKSON (ROCHESTER); KENDY ALVAREZ (LEWISBURG). (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Lt. Governors of Pa., New York also join mayors in supporting Harris
Arms locked, united as one, 12 Black elected officials stood tall for Vice President and Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris in her quest to become the next U.S. president, while standing strong against her opponent, former president Donald Trump.
The Black elected officials, tired of the murmur that some African Americans may want to vote for Trump, denounced Trump as a separator and a person morally unfit to become president again.
Among the 12 Black elected officials were Pennsylvania’s Lt. Governor, Austin Davis, and New York state’s Lt. Governor, Antonio Delgado, with 10 Black mayors from Southwestern and Central Pennsylvania.
“A lot of times in our community, they put out this narrative that we can’t come together, that we can’t stand up, that we can’t be a voice for our community,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey at the Oct. 18 news conference in East Liberty. “Today for the first time in this commonwealth, you’re seeing Black mayors…come together. I just think it makes a difference when we as mayors and lieutenant governors can speak to our community and let them understand that we see them and we feel them.”
BEAVER FALLS MAYOR DR. KENYA JOHNS
The other mayors who joined Mayor Gainey in unison were Delia Lennon-Winstead (Braddock); Kayla Portis (Sharpsburg); Dwan B. Walker (Aliquippa); Cletus Lee (North Braddock); Dontae Comans (Wilkinsburg); Keith Jackson (Rochester); Dr. Kenya Johns (Beaver Falls); Kendy Alvarez (Lewisburg); and Jaime Kinder (Meadville).
Together, the mayors said they would be visiting different rural areas of the state, along with securing their own cities, and spreading the message of, “Vote for Kamala on or before November 5.”
ALIQUIPPA MAYOR DWAN B. WALKER
“This election is simple for me. It’s a choice between separation and unification,” Mayor Gainey said. “At the end of the day, we understand who brings separation and who brings unification, and we need a president right now in an America that’s divided that can bring us together to come to common sense solutions so that we will be able to move our nation forward.”
PITTSBURGH MAYOR ED GAINEY
Mayor Gainey stressed, the unifier is Kamala Harris.
“It should be clear cut who you should vote for by now,” added the recognizable Walker, the mayor of Aliquippa. “This is the first time that a politician and elected campaign has come out to communities like Aliquippa, Rochester and Sharpsburg. They’re paying attention to us now. So we have a voice now. We have to use our voices in the right way.”
AT THE PODIUM, MEADVILLE MAYOR JAIME KINDER
Harris stood on the Aliquippa High School football field and spoke with members of the Quips’ football team on Aug. 18, and also made a stop in Rochester, both in Beaver County, which has voted for Trump in the last two elections. However, when trying to win the state of Pennsylvania, it doesn’t matter how many counties a candidate wins; all that matters is the popular vote in the state. The more votes that go to Harris in Beaver County, it can only help her in her quest to win Pennsylvania on Nov. 5.
ROCHESTER MAYOR KEITH JACKSON
“We are out here fighting for our lives,” said Sharpsburg’s first Black mayor, Kayla Portis. “Not only our lives, but our children’s lives, for future generations…We need to speak with our families, with our friends, we need to speak with anyone that will listen. Let’s save our democracy.”
Mayor Lennon-Winstead of Braddock strongly urged people to vote now. “This election is very, very vital to our existence…let your voice be heard. You are the change. Be the change.”
In Lewisburg, that town of 5,200 had never seen a person of color become mayor until Kendy Alvarez did so in 2022. Lewisburg is in Union County, three hours east of Pittsburgh, and about an hour east of Penn State University (State College, Pa.). Lewisburg is ultra-White, and African Americans represent just two percent of the population. Still, Mayor Alvarez said it’s her duty to spread the message in her town and other rural communities that Kamala Harris is the best choice for president.
The same can be said for Mayor Jaime Kinder of Meadville, 90 minutes north of Pittsburgh on your way to Erie. Its population of 12,000 is 5.4 percent Black. Both mayors said in rural communities, there’s more that “unites us than divides us,” and since that’s the case, Kamala Harris is the person who will unite, not divide.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have company in courting Pennsylvania’s rural communities. On Saturday, Oct. 19, Trump was at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Westmoreland County. He spoke to thousands of supporters there, and on the following day, Trump tried his hand with making french fries and working the drive-thru at a McDonald’s in Bucks County (near Philadelphia). Trump pulled the stunt to mock Harris, who said that in her younger days, she worked at a McDonald’s.
Later that night, Oct. 20, Trump attended the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium, North Side.
PA. LT. GOV. AUSTIN DAVIS (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
“Today you see me standing here as lieutenant governor, but I come from a working-class family and live in a working-class community,” voiced Pa. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who is from McKeesport. “I want to make sure that those people have the opportunity to get ahead. Kamala Harris comes from a middle-class family; she understands the plight of working-class people. Donald Trump wouldn’t know a working-class community if he drove through it in his limousine.”
NEW YORK STATE LT. GOVERNOR ANTONIO DELGADO, IN EAST LIBERTY, OCT. 18, 2024. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
As for fellow Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado of New York, it was the first time many of the Black mayors in attendance had heard him speak publicly. The 47-year old husband, father, and former Colgate University basketball player standing 6-feet-4 challenged voters to think about this election from a moral perspective.
“On your quest for power, one cannot bypass their concern for morality,” Lt. Gov. Delgado said. He said this election is about “what is right versus what is wrong…the idea that we have public servants who call themselves public servants but they only do so because they seek power to control, not power to serve.”
Lieutenant Governor Delgado said Trump just wants power; Harris truly wants to serve the people. “The only way for democracy to sustain itself is to have moral leaders. The moment we have individuals in office who are morally bankrupt, our system collapses. That’s the stakes that we’re in right now. Don’t fall for this individual (Trump) who wants to exploit your pain, feed on your agony. We have an opportunity in Vice President Harris to turn the page, to get back to a politics that is rooted in our commonality, in our unity, rooted in love, compassion, trust and truth.”
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