“This has never happened before,” Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said on Friday, Sept. 6.

He was speaking about the first-ever massive collective effort by Black political action committees in North Carolina to work together in a very aggressive grassroots campaign to elect a slate of candidates that those black PACs across the state have endorsed collectively.

Two top priorities of the group are to see that Kamala Harris is elected president and Josh Stein becomes the next governor of the state of North Carolina.

Alston said that the PACs didn’t use skin color as a criterion but instead, they endorsed candidates based on the character of the person running and their ability to govern effectively for the good of the citizens.

 He said character alone disqualifies Trump and Robinson and that the candidates selected by the black PACs have demonstrated effective leadership.

Earlier in the week, a press release from the Black PACs announced: “In an unprecedented action, several of the largest and most influential African-American political action committees (PACs) in North Carolina will jointly announce support for candidates in the upcoming 2024 elections, including the races for President of the United States, Governor of North Carolina, and other statewide offices.”

The announcement and news conference was held in Raleigh on Wednesday morning, Sept. 4 in front of the Legislative building.

Alston led the rally at which the coalition endorsed all of the Democrats running for Council of State positions, for the NC Supreme Court and for Court of Appeals races as well.  The group of PACs also endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

Stein and many of the other statewide candidates spoke at the news conference Wednesday.

Alston said that, earlier this year at a meeting of the state’s black PAC leaders, he presented the idea of everyone joining forces to endorse and elect the best candidates for statewide offices.  Other PAC leaders agreed and the statewide union was formed.

The participating organizations include the Raleigh Wake Citizens Association, the George C. Simkins Jr. Memorial PAC of Guilford County, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the Bladen Improvement Association.

 Robinson is evidence that the African-American PACs didn’t go on skin color.  A Republican, he’s North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor and is also the first Black party nominee for governor of the state for a major party.

According to a news report from WUNC, when Steve Bowden of the Simkins PAC was asked whether the PACs considered endorsing Robinson given the historic nature of his candidacy, Bowden said, “We hope that the united front of this PAC shows our Black community where the leadership that they’ve depended on for so many years is on that question. We have obviously endorsed Josh Stein for governor.”

While focused on state battles, the Black PACs would love nothing more than for their effort to be the one that keeps Trump out of the White House. Earlier in the year, there seemed to be no way that Joe Biden could win North Carolina. However, now the race for president in the state is as close as it gets, and North Carolina could very well determine the national election. The PACs are hoping that a well-coordinated determined movement to sway the black vote across the state will produce enough voters to swing the state to a positive outcome for Harris.

According to the PACs, the endorsements are based on the candidates’ “proven track records and their commitment to policies that will uplift all North Carolinians.”

The participating PACs plan to very actively work toward getting the candidates elected through grassroots efforts including voter registration drives, door-to-door campaigning, voter training sessions and by providing transportation to the polls for the voters who need it.