1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:05,466 JUDY WOODRUFF: It was a remarkable contrast yesterday, in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,600 Even as protesters took to the streets in dozens of cities, voters in several states 3 00:00:12,233 --> 00:00:15,666 were making their voices heard at the polls, both in person and by mail. 4 00:00:17,666 --> 00:00:20,933 In Ferguson, Missouri, where protests first erupted in 2014 after the shooting death of 5 00:00:22,866 --> 00:00:26,366 Michael Brown by a white police officer, the city elected its first African-American and 6 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:28,566 first woman mayor. 7 00:00:28,566 --> 00:00:31,533 Ella Jones reflected on her historic win last night. 8 00:00:31,533 --> 00:00:36,533 ELLA JONES, Ferguson, Missouri, Mayor-Elect: So, being the first African-American woman, 9 00:00:38,633 --> 00:00:42,066 what does that mean? That means, I have got work to do, because, when you're an African-American 10 00:00:43,666 --> 00:00:47,500 woman, they require more of you than they require of my counterpart. 11 00:00:49,466 --> 00:00:53,466 And I know that the people in Ferguson are ready to stabilize their community, and we're 12 00:00:58,166 --> 00:01:00,266 going to work together to get it done. 13 00:01:00,266 --> 00:01:03,166 JUDY WOODRUFF: To look at some of yesterday's election results and what it means ahead of 14 00:01:03,166 --> 00:01:06,966 November, I'm joined now by someone familiar to "NewsHour" viewers. 15 00:01:06,966 --> 00:01:11,766 It's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report and host of public radio's "Politics With 16 00:01:11,766 --> 00:01:12,766 Amy Walter." 17 00:01:12,766 --> 00:01:14,833 So, hello, Amy. 18 00:01:14,833 --> 00:01:18,766 Let's start with those results in Ferguson. It's almost like bookends. You had the big 19 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:24,500 protests of six years ago, with the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a police 20 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:29,500 officer, six years later, protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the -- over what happened in 21 00:01:31,533 --> 00:01:33,600 Minneapolis. 22 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,600 It's a city still struggling, like the rest of the country, with this issue. How is it 23 00:01:39,566 --> 00:01:42,566 thought that the election of this woman, Ella Jones, could change things? 24 00:01:42,566 --> 00:01:46,333 AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Yes, Judy, it is quite remarkable, again, to have 25 00:01:46,333 --> 00:01:51,300 the first African-American elected in this week in a city like Ferguson which -- that 26 00:01:53,666 --> 00:01:55,733 has so much symbolism. 27 00:01:55,733 --> 00:02:00,466 But what's also remarkable, Judy, is how much the American public has moved on this issue, 28 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,800 this issue of excessive force used by police, especially against black folks. And what we 29 00:02:07,833 --> 00:02:12,766 saw in 2014 was, only a third of Americans thought that the police used executive force 30 00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:18,000 with African-Americans vs. whites. 31 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,000 In 2016, it was still about a third. Today, a new poll came out, Monmouth University poll, 32 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:31,100 shows that almost 60 percent of Americans now believe that excessive force is being 33 00:02:32,900 --> 00:02:36,233 used against African-Americans more so than it's being used against whites. 34 00:02:36,233 --> 00:02:40,400 And I think that's an incredible movement in such a short amount of time. I think a 35 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,400 lot of that is driven, of course, by the horrific video that most Americans, if they haven't 36 00:02:46,566 --> 00:02:48,566 seen it themselves, have heard about. 37 00:02:48,566 --> 00:02:53,200 And I also think it's reflective of the fact that a lot has happened since 2014, even in 38 00:02:55,666 --> 00:02:58,533 Ferguson. In Ferguson, even before this election of the mayor, a number of African-Americans 39 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,266 were elected to the city council, so it went from almost all white to being majority African-American 40 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,066 over the course of these last few years. 41 00:03:09,066 --> 00:03:14,033 JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, so much to talk about there, but I also want to ask you about Iowa. 42 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:16,933 Very interesting result there. 43 00:03:16,933 --> 00:03:21,566 Republican conservative Congressman Steve King, who is known for making controversial 44 00:03:23,433 --> 00:03:27,466 statements over the years, especially with regard to white supremacy, and right now, 45 00:03:30,433 --> 00:03:35,433 he -- so, last night, he goes down to defeat in that primary in Iowa. 46 00:03:36,833 --> 00:03:39,166 What does this say about what could happen in November? 47 00:03:39,166 --> 00:03:44,166 AMY WALTER: Judy, seems like almost too much of a Hollywood script, right, to have the 48 00:03:46,100 --> 00:03:49,800 first African-American elected in Ferguson and then to have somebody associated with 49 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,800 anti-immigrant and racist statements lose in a primary in Iowa. 50 00:03:56,833 --> 00:03:59,533 It's not as simple as that, of course. Nothing ever is in life or in politics. The challenge 51 00:03:59,533 --> 00:04:04,500 that Steve King had also came within his own party, and he was defeated in a Republican 52 00:04:06,433 --> 00:04:10,100 primary, in large part because the Republican leadership abandoned him after he made some 53 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:13,533 of these comments in 2019. 54 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:18,300 But they were also abandoning him because of how weak a showing he had in 2018. He almost 55 00:04:20,233 --> 00:04:23,300 lost in this very conservative, very Republican district. They got behind a state senator 56 00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:29,233 who's also very conservative, who's also very closely tied to Donald Trump. He tied himself 57 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,600 very closely to the president in his own ads. 58 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,533 The campaign that the Republican opponent to Steve King ran wasn't taking on Steve King's 59 00:04:39,966 --> 00:04:44,966 past anti-immigrant or racist statements. He didn't mention that really at all. It was 60 00:04:46,966 --> 00:04:50,100 focused on the fact that Steve King had lost his prestigious committee assignment, that 61 00:04:52,766 --> 00:04:54,866 Republicans had stripped him of that. 62 00:04:54,866 --> 00:04:59,533 So that was a bigger factor in this race than the statements that he had made previously. 63 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:04,333 JUDY WOODRUFF: And now that seat is going to be one tougher for the Democrats to pick 64 00:05:04,333 --> 00:05:05,333 up. 65 00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:07,400 AMY WALTER: That's right. 66 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:09,433 JUDY WOODRUFF: Republicans think they have got a stronger -- very quickly, Amy, in just 67 00:05:09,433 --> 00:05:12,466 a few seconds, this dispute over the Republican Convention in the state of North Carolina, 68 00:05:12,466 --> 00:05:13,966 where is that headed? 69 00:05:13,966 --> 00:05:16,433 AMY WALTER: It looks like it's headed to a different state. 70 00:05:16,433 --> 00:05:21,433 The president wants -- the president wants a big convention, and he wants a crowd. And 71 00:05:23,500 --> 00:05:25,500 North Carolina's not going to give it to him, so he's going to figure it out, and he wants 72 00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:29,633 to show America that he's getting things back on track, and the convention is his way to 73 00:05:29,633 --> 00:05:31,733 do that. 74 00:05:31,733 --> 00:05:35,833 JUDY WOODRUFF: Amy Walter, so much to talk about. Thank you very much. Great to see you 75 00:05:36,566 --> 00:05:37,500 on this Wednesday. 76 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:38,066 We will see you next week.