U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) addresses the crowd during the Democratic Party of Georgia’s election night watch party at the Hyatt Regency on November 5, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Jessica McGowan / Getty
Just four years after Black women, particularly those in Georgia, were lauded for securing the election of President Joe Biden, reports suggest that Democrats in the Peach State are blaming their Party leader – a Black woman – for Donald Trump winning the state and its coveted Electoral College votes.
Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams is facing calls from fellow Democrats to resign as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia after just 27 of the state’s nearly 160 counties voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, WSB-TV reported.
Fayette County Democratic Chair Joe Clark is among the most vocal Democrats in Georgia demanding Williams step down because of the election results.
“When you look at failures, you have to look at your leadership. Why did it happen? You know, and we feel that we need a change in the leadership, and it starts at the top,” Clark said. “I mean, since she’s been the chair, she’s been a Congresswoman. And she’s had to run. This would be her third race that she’s had to run. I think she does a good job in Congress, and I think that’s exactly where she needs to be.”
Perhaps the most prominent state Democrats calling for Williams to step down is Congressman Jon Ossoff, who, according to text messages obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), told Williams: “I don’t want you leading the party with me at the top of the ticket.”
The Young Democrats of Georgia also called for Williams to step down in favor of “re-envisioning the leadership of the Democratic Party of Georgia.”
Black Democrats in Georgia, on the other hand, took a different, more neutral tack when asked about the prospects of Williams resigning following the election.
“I think we need to get beyond the current distraction and focus on the work,” Sen. Raphael Warnock told the AJC.
Congressman Hank Johnson admitted “there’s a groundswell of support” for Williams to step down but said the decision was ultimately “up to her.”
Williams, who was selected to replace the late civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis following his death in 2020, has been chair of the Georgia Democrats since 2019 and was reelected just last year.
On Tuesday night, Williams would not confirm or deny any plans for her to resign from her position.
“We are talking through and having these discussions internally with the governing body of the Democratic Party of Georgia,” Williams told reporter Michael Jones. “And there are a lot of people with a lot of comments that are not involved in the party, never have been and are not looking at what’s in the best interest of the party.”
Williams’ communications director issued a statement about the calls for her to resign:
“While we’re all disappointed and still processing last week’s election results, Georgia Democrats made a strong showing in the face of a national red wave that saw Donald Trump sweep every battleground state. We increased Kamala Harris’s vote total in Georgia over President Biden’s in 2020 by more than 70,000 votes — more than all other battleground states combined — and cemented the Peach State’s status as a battleground state heading into the next election cycle.”
State Rep. Derrick Jackson told the AJC that “Harris’ loss doesn’t mean the party did something wrong.”
Other state Democrats are also rallying for Williams, as shown by a public statement released by people like Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who said in part, “we stand firmly with her.”
Former Cobb County Democratic chair Erick Allen referred to calls for Williams to step down as “knee jerk reactions driven by personal ambitions of people seeking a future office.”
The public campaign to pressure Williams into resigning runs counter to the way the state embraced Black women and credited them for not only helping to elect Biden but also playing crucial roles in the Senate runoff races that got Ossoff and Warnock elected in 2021.
In fact, Williams has been on the front lines – literally – of state Democrats fighting for democracy. In 2018, the then-state Senator was arrested at the State Capitol for standing with constituents while asking for every vote to be counted in that year’s midterm elections.
“I joined them down on the floor and I was singled out as a Black female senator, standing in the rotunda with constituents in the Capitol, in the body that I serve in, and I was singled out and arrested today for standing with so many Georgians who are demanding every vote be counted,” Williams said following her arrest.
This is America.
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