Marquita Bradshaw

Last updated
Marquita Bradshaw
Marquita Bradshaw at Morristown (cropped).jpg
Bradshaw in Morristown, Tennessee, 2020
Personal details
Born (1974-01-19) January 19, 1974 (age 50)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Relations John DeBerry (uncle)
Children1
Education University of Memphis (BLS)
Website Campaign website

Marquita Bradshaw (born January 19, 1974) is an American environmentalist, activist, and political candidate. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee, the first African American woman to win a major political party nomination in any statewide race in Tennessee. Bradshaw lost the general election to Republican Bill Hagerty.

Contents

After losing the 2020 election, Bradshaw became the founder of Sowing Justice, an environmental and political organization. [1] [2] She unsuccesfully ran in the 2024 Senate election, losing the Democratic primary to Gloria Johnson. [3]

Early life and education

Bradshaw was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. [4] During her childhood, her family was active in raising awareness of pollution leaking from the Memphis Defense Depot, a contaminated military base in a largely African American neighborhood of Memphis that became a Superfund site in 1992. [5] Her parents organized a "concerned citizen committee" regarding the site because residents believed it was causing local health problems. [6]

Bradshaw was influenced by her uncle John DeBerry, who was for many years a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. [7] Bradshaw earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in journalism and communication studies from the University of Memphis. [8]

Career

She is the environmental justice committee chair of the Sierra Club's Tennessee chapter. [9] According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press , "She has worked with community advocacy groups, environmental organizations and unions, including the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, the AFL–CIO, the Sierra Club and Tennesseans for Fair Taxation." [10]

2020 U.S. Senate election

In October 2019, Bradshaw announced her candidacy for the US Senate seat held by retiring Senator Lamar Alexander. She told the Nashville Scene , "What's going on in the Senate is that socially and economically, they don't represent what the constituents of Tennessee look like. The majority of Senate members are millionaires, and I'm a working-class single mother. There are other working-class people across Tennessee, and sometimes when those policies come down, they have unintended consequences that hurt working people." [7] Bradshaw told the Tri-State Defender that "we are leading with environmental justice principles." [8] She told other reporters from WPLN News that "People of color, black people, brown people, indigenous people and poor white people are not experiencing the same set of laws as everybody else when it comes to the environment." [11] In addition to environmental issues, her platform endorsed Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. [12] She also supports universal background checks for gun purchases, keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in force, and overturning Citizens United v. FEC . [13]

In the Democratic primary, Bradshaw was one of five candidates, including the DSCC-supported Army veteran James Mackler. Mackler's campaign had raised $2.1 million, while Bradshaw's funding by March was less than $10,000. [14] [15] [6] By the end of the primary campaign, Bradshaw had raised $24,000. [16] The general expectation was that Mackler would easily win against a divided field with four other candidates. [17]

On August 6, Bradshaw won, with 35.5% of the votes, while Mackler came in third with 23.8%. [18] Bradshaw's decisive primary win was unexpected; the Associated Press called it "an astonishing upset victory over the Democratic establishment's choice" [19] that "has drawn national attention." [20] Bradshaw's win was the first successful challenge to any DSCC-backed candidate since 2010. [21] Prior to Bradshaw's win in the primary, neither Tennessee Democrats nor Tennessee Republicans had ever chosen a Black woman as their candidate for statewide office. [20] After her win in the primary, Bradshaw was congratulated, and later endorsed, by the Sunrise Movement. [22] [23] In September, she was endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and the Sierra Club. [24] [25] Bradshaw pledged to visit every one of Tennessee's 95 counties to campaign for the general election. [20]

She faced Republican nominee Bill Hagerty in the November 3, 2020, general election. [19] Hagerty defeated Bradshaw, receiving 62% of the vote to Bradshaw's 35%, a result that Facing South attributed in part to Tennessee's restrictive voting laws and the failure of national organizations to help fund Bradshaw's campaign. [26] [27] (Kentucky Democrat Amy McGrath, with $90M funding as opposed to Bradshaw's $1.5M, lost to her opponent Mitch McConnell by a similar margin). [28] Republicans have held both of Tennessee's Senate seats since 1994, when Republican Bill Frist defeated Democratic incumbent Jim Sasser. [29]

Post-Senate bid activities

Following her unsuccessful senate bid, Bradshaw founded Sowing Justice, an organization striving to increase civic engagement and the cause of environmental justice. [30] [1]

In August 2021, a coalition of 466 environmentalist groups petitioned President Biden to replace Trump-appointed Neil Chatterjee as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), naming Bradshaw as one of the three environmental justice activists they recommended. [31] [32] According to the petition, "We need a new FERC commissioner who will center science, justice, and equity, and end the era of dirty gas and other fossil fuels." [33] According to Bradshaw, "We need a future in which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission supports a just transition to be more effective and efficient, to eventually eliminate pollution as a byproduct of our energy sources and economy." [32]

She was a candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee, losing to Gloria Johnson in the Democratic primary. [3]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Elliott, Stephen (2023-07-20). "Former Nominee Marquita Bradshaw Running for Senate Again". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  2. ↑ Elliott, Stephen (2023-07-20). "Former Nominee Marquita Bradshaw Running for Senate Again". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  3. 1 2 Elliott, Stephen (2023-07-20). "Former Nominee Marquita Bradshaw Running for Senate Again". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  4. ↑ Eskind, Amy (2020-10-08). "A Black Single Mom Seeks to Make History, Fill Alexander's U.S. Senate Seat". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  5. ↑ Nelson, Gary (April 14, 2020). "Bradshaw seeks support in U.S. Senate race". Crossville Chronicle . Retrieved August 26, 2020. Bradshaw said she is a volunteer project director for Defense Depot Memphis, Concerned Citizens Committee. She is one of the 11 founding members of Youth Terminating Pollution. As a project director, Bradshaw said she fights for her childhood community, raises awareness and fights for justice for contamination from the Memphis Defense Depot Superfund site. The superfund site is a chemical and biological warfare landfill.
  6. 1 2 Sainz, Adrian; Mattise, Jonathan (August 7, 2020). "Bradshaw overcomes odds to win Tenn. Senate nomination". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2023. Bradshaw, who won Thursday's Democratic primary election over a well-funded opponent in the contest to replace Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood near an Army depot where waste disposal contaminated soil and groundwater. As residents got sick and died, her mother Doris and father Kenneth started the Defense Depot Memphis Concerned Citizen Committee, a group of teachers, business owners and professionals concerned about emerging health problems.
  7. 1 2 Elliott, Stephen (October 3, 2019). "Another Democrat Joins U.S. Senate Race". Nashville Scene. Retrieved August 26, 2020. Bradshaw's family members are no strangers to politics (though this is her first run for office) — her uncle is state Rep. John DeBerry (D-Memphis), and her mother Doris has been fighting for environmental justice in Memphis for decades. Marquita Bradshaw was by her parents' side for much of the fight against a government-owned Superfund site in Memphis.
  8. 1 2 Ajanaku, Karanja A. (August 13, 2020). "Marquita Bradshaw's 'active listening' campaign for the U.S. Senate". Tri-State Defender. Retrieved August 27, 2020. ..we are leading with environmental justice principles with the voices of the people who are experiencing the pain. It's value and is put in this platform. By that way, we are being inclusive and it's for everybody because we want America to be for all, not just for some people.
  9. ↑ "Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter". Sierra Club. 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020. Marquita Bradshaw, our Tennessee Chapter Environmental Justice Chair - the need to rid ourselves of racism in the fabric of America to achieve climate justice.
  10. ↑ "Bill Hagerty, Marquita Bradshaw to compete for Tennessee U.S. Senate seat". Chattanooga Times Free Press . Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  11. ↑ "These Democrats Are Hoping To Be The Long-Shot Winners Of Tennessee's Senate Seat". WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio. 2020-07-24. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  12. ↑ "Issues | Marquita Bradshaw | US Senate". Bradshaw4senate.
  13. ↑ Pennacchia, Robin (August 7, 2020). "Progressive Underdog Marquita Bradshaw Wins TN Democratic Senate Primary On One-Eightieth The $$$". Wonkette. Retrieved September 4, 2020. Bradshaw campaigned on supporting universal background checks (she's a Moms Demand mom), Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, funding education as well as we fund our military, a living wage, overturning Citizens United, and keeping DACA. She also supports community policing and restorative justice.
  14. ↑ Plott, Elaina (August 7, 2020). "Marquita Bradshaw on Her Tennessee Primary Victory: 'I Could See the Momentum'". New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2020. Ms. Bradshaw finished ahead of four opponents, including James Mackler, an Army veteran backed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee who, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, had raised more than $2 million. The most recent filings available showed that Ms. Bradshaw's campaign had raised only $8,400 by the end of March.
  15. ↑ Plazas, David (August 12, 2020). "Marquita Bradshaw could make history in Tennessee Senate race, but the fight is uphill all the way". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 26, 2020. The Democratic primary fielded five candidates, and on Thursday, Sierra Club organizer Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis won the race...She proved she could win her primary as an underdog. She raised only $8,420 in her election compared with $2.1 million raised by attorney and combat veteran James Mackler.
  16. ↑ Dries, Bill (August 29, 2020). "Marquita Bradshaw: 'Not a fringe campaign'". Daily Memphian. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Since primary election night and her decisive victory over frontrunner James Mackler of Nashville, Bradshaw says she has raised 10 times more than what she spent on the primary campaign. That's $270,000 compared to $24,000.
  17. ↑ Stockard, Sam (August 10, 2020). "Bradshaw upsets political world with U.S. Senate primary win". Daily Memphian. Retrieved August 29, 2020. Rhodes College political science professor Michael Nelson was among those who thought Mackler would win with ease. After all, he was set to run for the Senate two years ago before former Gov. Phil Bredesen stepped in, and he had the money and the endorsement of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
  18. ↑ West, Emily R; Hardiman, Samuel (August 6, 2020). "Marquita Bradshaw wins Tennessee's Democratic US Senate primary". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 26, 2020. The Memphis Democrat faced four challengers: Robin Kimbrough, James Mackler, Gary Davis and Mark Pickrell. Bradshaw won the race with 35.5% of the vote. Kimbrough had 26.6% and Mackler had 23.8%. Davis and Pickrell trailed with each winning less than 10% of the vote.
  19. 1 2 Mattise, Jonathan; Sainz, Adrian (August 6, 2020). "Hagerty vs. Bradshaw in race to succeed US Sen. Alexander". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved August 26, 2020. The race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in November will feature a matchup between a Republican candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump and a Black activist who pulled off an astonishing upset victory over the Democratic establishment's choice — with a campaign war chest of less than $10,000.
  20. 1 2 3 Sainz, Adrian (August 8, 2020). "Bradshaw to visit every Tennessee county in Senate run". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved August 26, 2020. The progressive's win over a field of Democrats, including establishment choice James Mackler, has drawn national attention in a Senate race where the focus had been on a contentious GOP primary featuring Hagerty and Nashville doctor Manny Sethi. Bradshaw is the first Black woman nominated for statewide office by either major political party in Tennessee.
  21. ↑ Cioffi, Chris (December 7, 2018). "What just happened in Tennessee's Democratic Senate primary?". RollCall. Retrieved August 28, 2020. Mackler's primary loss is the first for a DSCC-backed candidate since 2010, when Cal Cunningham lost a Democratic Senate primary in North Carolina...The DSCC's endorsed candidates have been overwhelmingly successful in their primaries so far this election cycle. Until Mackler's defeat, the party had a perfect primary streak
  22. ↑ "Outraised 250-1, Progressive Marquita Bradshaw Upsets Establishment Opponent in Tennessee Primary for US Senate". Common Dreams. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  23. ↑ Golshan, Tara (September 10, 2020). "Sunrise Movement Unveils 2020 Endorsements To Defeat Climate Change Deniers". HuffPost . Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Endorsements | Warren Democrats". Elizabeth Warren . Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  25. ↑ Schelzig, Erik (September 17, 2020). "Buttigeig endorses Bradshaw, Harris". The Tennessee Journal. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Tennessee U.S. Senate Election Results". New York Times. 3 November 2020.
  27. ↑ Brown, Elisha (April 8, 2021). "Meet the South's next wave of voter mobilization groups". Facing South. Retrieved May 3, 2021. Tennessee has one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the country and has been consistently ranked as having one of the lowest voter turnout rates nationally...Parker noted that national investment in organizing Tennessee's electorate has been inconsistent.
  28. ↑ Hardiman, Samuel (November 9, 2020). "What's next for Marquita Bradshaw after pioneering bid for Tennessee office?". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2021. McGrath, who lost to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, raised $90 million through Oct. 14, according to finance filings. Thus far, McGrath has received 37.8% of the vote. In Tennessee, with far less money, Bradshaw had received 35.1% of the vote.
  29. ↑ Allison, Natalie (April 5, 2021). "DNC takes out Nashville billboard touting Biden stimulus funds, blasting GOP for voting against bill". Nashville Tennessean. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  30. ↑ McCaskill, Nolan D.; Sabrina Rodriguez (January 8, 2021). "Warnock win puts spotlight on Senate's shortcomings". Politico.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  31. ↑ Budryk, Zack (August 6, 2021). "More than 400 advocacy groups ask Biden to appoint environmentalist to energy commission". The Hill. Retrieved September 4, 2021. In a letter to Biden, 466 groups identified three potential candidates to replace Neil Chatterjee...Potential replacements floated in the letter include former Georgia Public Service Commission candidate Daniel Blackman; former Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw; and Clean Energy for Biden national co-chair Nidi Thakar.
  32. 1 2 Elliott, Stephen (August 6, 2021). "Environmental groups suggest former Senate candidate for Biden administration". Nashville Post. Retrieved September 4, 2021. A coalition of environmental justice groups is asking the Biden administration to nominate one of three environmental justice activists to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis.
  33. ↑ Corbett, Jessica (August 6, 2021). "460+ Groups Demand Biden Pick a Climate Champion for Key Energy Position". Common Dreams. Retrieved September 4, 2021. With U.S. West plagued by raging wildfires and scientists warning of what the future holds on a rapidly heating planet, more than 460 advocacy groups on Friday urged President Joe Biden to choose a climate champion for a key federal energy post—and gave him three potential candidates
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Tennessee
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