(L-R) Brooke Butler (Photo from DCCC), Damon Hewitt (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ESSENCE), LaTosha Brown (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
The blue wave during last week’s midterms didn’t just happen. It was built by people working in the spotlight and plenty more working behind the scenes. We often think about Black leaders like Eric Holder and Stacey Abrams, but there are plenty more who have been doing the work for years that you probably haven’t heard of yet. When people talk about the 2026 wave, they’ll talk about the candidates and the election results. But there’s another story worth telling: the people who helped make it happen.
From Gerard Henderson and Waikinya J.S. Clanton to HBCU students across the South, they’ve all helped bring people together, build momentum and turn organizing into political action. Some opened doors, some raised resources, some knocked on doors, registered voters, and mobilized their communities. This is a look at the people and networks whose work helped make the wave possible.
Jessica Knight Henry
At the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Jessica Knight Henry helped lay the groundwork for competitive Senate campaigns through candidate recruitment, early investments, and strategic support. Her work helped give Southern Democrats the resources to compete before election season even heated up.
Gerard Henderson
As campaign manager for Scott Colom’s Mississippi Senate race, Gerard Henderson helped build a serious statewide operation, coordinating on-the-ground strategy and turning a traditionally difficult contest into one of Mississippi’s most competitive races.
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Garren Randolph
Behind Wisconsin Governor-elect David Crowley’s campaign, Garren Randolph, who previously worked on the Biden-Harris campaign, helped make every dollar and organizing effort count. From building coalitions to prioritizing voter outreach, he kept the campaign focused on turning Democratic support into actual votes.
Delilah Agho Otoghile
From Georgia’s organizing movement to the Texas political landscape, Delilah Agho Otoghile has helped Democrats compete where it matters. Her field experience and strategic leadership have been instrumental in building coalitions and flipping key local races.
DeJuana Thompson
Long before Election Day, DeJuana Thompson was building the relationships that make turnout possible. Through Woke Vote, she helped redefine Southern organizing by connecting young Black voters, empowering communities, and making civic participation a sustained movement.
Felicia Blakely-Agostini
As executive director of Georgia’s Democratic Party, Felicia Blakely-Agostini helped keep the state’s political machinery moving. Her leadership strengthened the infrastructure, coordination, and organizational support needed to compete across Georgia.
Michael Bland
As the director of Black Men Vote, Michael Bland made sure Black men were part of the conversation, pushing voter participation and political engagement.
Shelby Wiltz
Working at the DNC, Shelby Wiltz helped connect national Democratic resources with the state parties doing the work on the ground. Her role in coordination and frontline support helped keep campaigns connected and moving in the same direction.
Brooke Butler
As political director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Brooke Butler helped shape where Democrats competed and where they invested. Her work expanding the Southern battlefield gave more attention and resources to districts that could help change the balance of power.
Adejoké Aladekere
Remember when North Carolina Republicans voted to close early-voting sites at several HBCUs right before elections? Well, Adejoké Aladekere, a student at NCAT, helped turn student frustration into action by organizing young voters to march to the polls after voting stations closed.
Jakari Holland
On the campus of Jackson State University, another HBCU in Mississippi, Jakari Holland, founder of the Mississippi Access Project, brought a fresh Gen Z perspective to voting rights, empowering Mississippi students to get informed and engaged.
Helen Butler
Back in Georgia, Helen Butler, the executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, continued her Georgia voting rights work, helping communities register and stay informed.
Ofirah Yheskel, Nichole Johnson & Levi Debose
This DGA leadership team helped power Democratic gubernatorial campaigns across the South, bringing together funding, communications, and field strategy. Their work helped candidates build the statewide operations needed to compete in tough political terrain.
Waikinya J.S. Clanton
Waikinya J.S. Clanton understands that organizing can’t begin and end with an election. Through her work in Mississippi and the ANCHORED framework, she’s focused on building lasting community power, developing local leadership, and creating civic infrastructure that outlives campaign cycles.
Christina Cue
Christina Cue has taken voter education and organizing beyond traditional campaign boundaries. Through OnCue Management, she’s helped coordinate multi-state outreach and turnout efforts, bringing the information, resources, and community connections needed to reach millions of Southern voters.
Tayhlor Coleman
While most campaigns focus on the easiest places to reach, Tayhlor Coleman takes the road less traveled. Living out of her van, Barb, she has registered thousands of voters in rural Texas communities that too often get overlooked.
Cliff Albright & LaTosha Brown
These Black Voters Matter co-founders have helped make Southern voter turnout a movement of its own. From bus tours to local organizing grants, they’ve invested in the people and grassroots organizations doing the work where elections are won.
Quentin Turner
Quentin Turner focuses on the communities that traditional campaign budgets too often leave behind. His rural and non-metro organizing work helps bring overlooked precincts into the political conversation, proving that building a winning coalition means showing up everywhere.
Nsé Ufot
Nsé Ufot helped transform how Southern communities organize, connect, and mobilize. Through her voting rights work and innovative relational organizing strategies, she helped build a model rooted in personal relationships, community trust, and the belief that lasting political power starts locally.
Ryan P. Haygood
Ryan P. Haygood, the CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, brought civil rights leadership to the fight for democracy, voting access and racial justice.
Vote HBCU
Vote HBCU was one of several organizations that helped get younger generations to the ballot box. Vote HBCU registered more than 800 students within one month, reminding the nation that young Black voters have power.
Camille Wimbish
Camille Wimbish is the national director of the Election Protection Coalition. She helped coordinate nationwide election protection efforts, making sure voters had support when they needed it.
Dominik Whitehead
The NAACP’s Chief of Field, Membership Growth and Unit Sustainability, Dominik Whitehead, helped lead a major voter mobilization effort, putting Black voters and political representation front and center.
Anneshia Hardy
This election cycle, The Root spoke to Anneshia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values, who helped bring everyday voters into the conversation through grassroots organizing and community-centered advocacy.
Damon Hewitt
Damon Hewitt, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, helped protect the vote, bringing legal resources and voter assistance to communities facing election barriers.
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