NAACP Town Halls Aim To Mobilize Black Voters For Midterms

By Joe Jurado, NewsOne

The town halls will feature local elected officials and detail how the Trump administration’s policies have specifically hurt Black communities. 

The NAACP launched a series of town halls this week to mobilize Black voters ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

According to CBS News, the first town hall took place on Tuesday in New Jersey with Mayor Ras Baraka, Rep. Monica McIver, and several other local leaders in attendance. Baraka and McIver were both arrested earlier this year at a protest outside of a Newark ICE detention center. Baraka had his charges dropped, but McIver was charged with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.

“It may still seem far away, but the 2026 midterm elections will determine whether our democracy still holds on or whether the people surrender their power to a king,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement to CBS News. “So, from our perspective, as the NAACP, it’s clear: we’ve got to start organizing early.”

Johnson’s warning of democracy being at risk is far from hyperbole. The NAACP’s town halls come as Texas Republicans have begun a redistricting process critics have called blatant gerrymandering. Texas Democrats have stood their ground, fleeing the state to prevent a vote on a new map that would add five new seats in Republican-controlled districts. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the arrest of the Texas Democrats and filed a lawsuit to have the lawmakers removed from office. The Texas redistricting effort has inspired several Democrat-led states to consider a redistricting attempt of their own to counterpunch Texas. 

These aren’t things that happen in a healthy, well-functioning democracy.

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