Black women who boosted

Obama are sticking with Clinton

DETROIT: Hillary Clinton has faced surprisingly strong competition this primary season, and she’s been bombarded with criticism. But she has maintained a strong bond with one significant bloc of Democratic Party voters.

Black women, who were part of President Barack Obama’s winning coalition in 2008 and 2012, have locked arms behind Clinton. They’re hailing her as a Democratic standard-bearer, survivor and friend.

Though the primary contest is not over, the former secretary of state holds a big delegate lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and is considered likely to win the Democratic nomination. African-American women have played a big part: About 8 in 10 across all the states where exit polling has been conducted have voted for her. And in some cases support has been above 90 percent.

Clinton's campaign has sought to reinforce these bonds. At black churches and businesses, she has stressed her ties to the popular president and touted endorsements from leaders such as Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights icon. She has emphasized issues like criminal justice reform and gun control and is campaigning alongside black women who have lost children to gun violence.

"I really got the sense that she could really relate to us, as being mothers and women and daughters," said Lucy McBath, whose teenage son Jordan Davis was shot and killed at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station in 2012. Lucy McBath was part of a group of mothers who met with Clinton privately in the fall and has been out campaigning for her.

These efforts have been headed by LaDavia Drane, who joined the campaign last year as director of African-American outreach. She has sought out female pastors like Vaughn for Clinton's church visits. She organized the meeting between Clinton and the mothers impacted by gun violence. And she has worked to establish grass-roots networks for black women such "Heels for Hillary" in cities around the country.

Drane described Clinton's connection to mothers, particularly black mothers, as "a secret sauce, it's a match made in heaven."

Before black audiences, Clinton appears at ease. At the Detroit church, she opened up about her personal struggles.

"What has always guided me and supported me has been my faith," she said. She recalled the parable of the prodigal son and seemed to reference her husband, now diligently campaigning for her. "When someone who has disappointed you, who has often disappointed themselves, decides to come home, it is human nature to say you're not wanted ... but that's not what the father in this parable did."