Political Environment in America's Richest Black County

Michael Steele received 23% of the vote in Prince George's County in the general election and Kweisi Mfume received 71% of the vote in the primary against Senator-elect Benjamin Cardin. The percentages were similar for Baltimore City. Cardin beat Steele statewide by a margin of 55 to 44 percent.

Even though Blacks expressed more frutration with being neglected by the Democratic Party, they refused to translate that frustration into votes for a Black running as a Republican. Former County Executive Wayne Curry and all five of the Black members of the current county council endorsed Michael Steele.

Black voters in the richest majority black county in the country voted party over race. Another of the nation's richest counties, Montgomery County, elected a black man, Ike Leggett, as its county executive. Massachusetts also elected a black governor, Deval Patrick. Although race still matters in the U.S., it does not seem to matter as much as it used to. Imagine that.