The state of Georgia has never elected a female governor or U.S. senator. So, given that fact, we wanted to know: Are Georgians ready to make history and cast their 16 electoral votes for the first woman president?
In mid-September, NPR sat down with three women of different ages, races and religions who have seen politics in Georgia evolve through multiple election cycles. Each said they were voting for Kamala Harris this November, and detailed what her candidacy meant to them.
Read and listen to more of All Things Considered’s recent trip to Georgia, including interviews with the secretary of state and Georgia GOP chairman.
Latrice Cushenberry, 54, lives in Gwinnett County
For Latrice Cushenberry, Harris feels familiar.
“She is someone that I have seen repeatedly throughout my lifetime in my grandmother, my mother, my aunt — [a] capable, competent African American person that basically can get the job done with empathy and compassion,” she said.
So when Cushenberry saw Harris become the Democratic candidate for president, she says she saw someone ascending to a position that has always existed in her life: “Of authority, of really making certain that everyone is cared for and making certain that everyone is represented.”
The fact Harris is a woman of color also resonated for Cushenberry and made her think of what she had experienced in her own life.
“I’m a person that works in a company where I’m the only person that looks the way I look,” she said. “I think it’s important for her to be the most capable, to be the most competent. And her gender and her race is just a part of her, of who she is as a person. She shouldn’t lead with that, I don’t think, but it is critical for people to understand … that people of color are capable.”
And Cushenberry believes Harris’ ascension has helped redefine this narrative around people of color.
“Thank God, because it’s quite exhausting, to be honest with you. It’s exhausting to have to be in a constant state of proving because of the color of your skin.”
Eustacia McLoud Carter, 66, lives in Cobb County
Eustacia McCloud Carter is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and has lived in Georgia since 1998. She says it took her some time to come around to the idea of Harris at the top of the ticket.
“I was all-in for Joe Biden. I didn’t care if we had to put him in a wheelchair, motorized, five oxygen tanks on his back,” she said. “And I was not liking the way that he was being coerced to leave. I just felt like he was a statesman and he deserved a little more respect than that.”
After Biden stepped aside, McLoud Carter said she took some time to grieve what had changed, but that once she came out of her “mourning period” she was all-in for Harris.
McCloud Carter believes much of the challenge in getting a woman in the White House has to do with the way that some men view women and their roles in society — something she qualifies as a “fallacy.”
“They see it that way, that we need to be barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen,” she said. “I did a canvas of my team of 50 barber and beauty shops, and that is the one thing I heard when I went in there, especially in the African American barbershops, ‘I’m voting for Trump.’ And they like Donald Trump. He comes out with that machoism.”
McCloud Carter said she doesn’t think all men believe this, but that there is a large part of the country that does.
“I was never raised that way. I have a father who always told me and my three sisters, ‘You can be anything you want to be.’”
Donna Smith Aranson, 74, lives in Fulton County
Donna Smith Aranson has lived in Atlanta her entire life and has volunteered for Hillary Clinton and both of Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaigns.
She feels the state is ready to elect the first female president.
“It’s been an evolution. I think in our last election cycle … we elected two senators who are unique in their positions, Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff,” she said. “And I’m proud to say that I voted for both of them and campaigned for both of them. Is it time for a woman? God, I hope so. I do hope so.”
“I think that women have always taken second place. I think the stand on abortion and all of the things that matter to women specifically are strong issues that [Harris] backs. And that’s not to say that men don’t either. But … it feels more personal when it comes from a woman.”
Smith Aranson says she has seen a change over time, and that each election cycle she is watching stronger women step up. She is personally excited to see a woman running for the presidency, but adds that she’s glad that Harris has not made her gender or race the central focus of her campaign.
“She has to appeal to all people, all genders, all religions,” she said.
Transcript:
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
And I’m Mary Louise Kelly in Atlanta, Ga., which has never elected a female governor. Georgia has never elected a female U.S. Senator, either. Is Georgia ready to cast its 16 electoral votes for a woman for president? Well, that’s a question we are about to put to three women who have lived through a few election cycles here in Georgia. We have asked them to meet us here. We’re on Peachtree Street, Midtown Atlanta, about to walk into Cafe Intermezzo.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR CREAKING)
KELLY: Inside, we grab a big table, order coffee and sit down with Latrice Cushenberry (ph), Eustacia McCloud Carter (ph) and Donna Smith Aranson – three women from different backgrounds, different religions, different races. They range in age from their 50s to their 70s. What they have in common is they are all backing Kamala Harris for president. And fear not. We are talking with plenty of Trump supporters while we’re here in Georgia, too. But for now, I want you to hear why these women are all in for Harris. Latrice, you start.
LATRICE CUSHENBERRY: I think the primary reason why I’m supporting Kamala is she is the candidate that aligns most with my values. She is someone that I have seen repeatedly throughout my lifetime in my grandmother, my mother, my aunts – capable, competent, African American person that basically can get the job done with empathy and compassion.
KELLY: But you see women in your family and a similar person when you look at Kamala Harris.
CUSHENBERRY: It’s all I’ve seen. It’s my historical reference. So it aligns with what I know, and it aligns with my core values of integrity and character.
KELLY: Donna, you next.
DONNA SMITH ARANSON: I am a native Atlantan, and I have been here through many, many political cycles. I’ve seen Republicans at the top of the ticket, and I’ve seen Democrats. We have had Democratic governors, but we’ve never had a woman. And when Kamala stepped up, it was like a lightning bolt. I listened to President Biden as he stepped back and turned the reins over to Kamala. And I said, this is it. This has got to be it.
KELLY: Eustacia, I’m saving you for last ’cause I’m told you took a little bit of – it took you a little while to come around to Kamala Harris for president. Tell me why.
EUSTACIA MCCLOUD CARTER: Yes, it did. I wasn’t kumbaya and jumping up and screaming when Joe Biden stepped down because I was all in for Joe Biden. I didn’t care if we had to put him in a wheelchair, motorized, five oxygen tanks on his back. I was all in Joe Biden. So I had slight of a mourning period.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t going to ever vote for Kamala. I knew I was going to vote for Kamala. I’m a staunch Democrat. I fall in line with the party. So she was going to get my vote. She’s qualified and not just because she’s a woman. She’s a qualified individual. Her resume speaks for itself. And, yes, she can be president. And we vote. We can put her in that office.
KELLY: A couple of you mentioned specifically she’s a woman. I look at strong women I know. I see her. It matters to you that this is a female candidate. It’s interesting to me, and I’ll put this one to you, Donna. Her campaign doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about her gender or her race. They have not put that front and center. Do you think she should spend more time reminding people, talking about, this is a historic candidacy, however it ends?
ARANSON: I really don’t. I think that when she wins – and it’s a when, not an if – she will be the president of all the people. And I think she has to appeal to all people, all genders, all religions. I think the stand on abortion and all of the things that matter to women specifically are strong issues that she backs. And that’s not to say that men don’t either, but it’s more – feels more personal when it comes from a woman and a strong woman.
KELLY: Yeah. The basic question – the U.S. has never elected a female president. A woman has never won the White House. Why do you all think this time could be any different?
CARTER: Like I said, if we all go out and vote, she can be the president. I think a lot of it has to do with that age-old fallacy about the way men view us. I did a canvas of my team of 50 barber and beauty shops. And that is the one thing I heard when I went in there, especially in the African American barbershops. I’m voting for Trump. And they like Donald Trump. He comes out with that machoism. So I think she can be, but we just have to find out what is at the core of why men don’t want to vote for her.
KELLY: Yeah. In Georgia specifically, a state that, as I said at the outset, has never managed to elect a female governor or a woman to the U.S. Senate and has a history of suppressing Black votes – is Georgia ready to vote for Kamala Harris?
ARANSON: I feel like it is. I think it’s been an evolution. I think in our last election cycle, we elected two senators who are unique in their positions. Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff hold important positions in the Senate. That came from Georgia. Is it time for a woman? God, I hope so – fingers crossed this will be – this will happen.
KELLY: Latrice.
CUSHENBERRY: I think I have a different take, mainly because, whether we want to believe it or not, there’s a brand-new demographic in this election – the young people who grew up during the age of school shootings. Those children are exhausted. They went through COVID. When they went back to school, there were so many threats. They’re ready for change, and I am ready for the change that they are ushering in.
KELLY: Thank you to all three of you. Thank you.
CARTER: Thank you.
CUSHENBERRY: You’re welcome.
ARANSON: Thank you.
CUSHENBERRY: Thank you.
CARTER: You’re welcome.
KELLY: We have been speaking with Donna Smith Aranson, Latrice Cushenberry and Eustacia McCloud Carter, three of the voters we’re talking with here in Georgia as our We, The Voters series continues.