Miami's Black Political Donors Drowned Out by Rich Developers, Study Finds

There's no one reason for the routine neglect of African-American areas, but a study released today by the civil rights advocacy group Demos pinpoints a huge government-access problem in South Florida: Black people, the study says, can't keep up with the deluge of campaign money coming from Miami's cadre of rich lawyers, lobbyists, investors, and real-estate tycoons.

Per the study, African-Americans made up just 2 percent of donors in the 2016 mayoral race and only 5 percent of donors across every race in the county. The study finds that black donors are drowned out of the political process by Miami-Dade's big-money donors.

"This population is massively outspent by big donors," the study says. "This could severely discount black interests in political considerations and reduce the black community's stake in local politics."