Wisconsin Elects first African American to Congress

State Sen. Gwen Moore was the projected winner in her race last night, becoming the first black person to represent Wisconsin in Congress. Moore, a teenage mother who overcame welfare, racial and gender-based stereotypes throughout her career, declared victory with only 2 percent of the votes counted. "We're feeling exuberant, the thing that's concerning us is whether or not I got enough skirt  tails for Kerry," Moore told BlackAmericaWeb.com .  Her voice was growing hoarse from trying to get out the vote for Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry rather than herself. Moore's congressional district is 25 percent black and 73 percent Democratic and victory was almost certain. Speaking from her victory party via telephone, Moore said she hopes that her election was able to motivate young and female voters, who didn't vote in 2000, to go to the polls this year. [more]