Black voters

Reynolds Douglass Graves, CEO of The Graves Group lobbying firm, is hoping to help elect more Black Democratic candidates to local government offices in Massachusetts.

Despite new laws to keep people from voting and gerrymandering election districts to take away the power of minority communities, the Republican “red wave” that pollsters predicted ahead of last week’s midterms didn’t happen.

Last Friday, news that U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley would endorse Michelle Wu underscored growing support for the at-large councilor’s bid for the mayor’s seat.

Political insiders are betting on the campaigns of acting Mayor Kim Janey and At-Large City Councilor Michelle Wu, with the pair receiving the lion’s share of backing from the city’s politicians, unions and base-building groups. Last week, however, when JP Progressives was due to make an endorsement, the group’s internal deliberations ended in somewhat of a King Solomon split, with nearly half the members backing Wu and nearly half backing Janey.

President Donald Trump, despite a continuing history of divisive rhetoric, improbably anointed himself a champion of African Americans in the final debate, seeking to put a dent in his opponent’s overwhelming advantage among Black voters.