Quiet political shifts as more blacks are elected

Such change, however, does not always come easily.

In Tennessee, Representative Nathan Vaughn, first elected to the legislature in 2002 from a district that is 97 percent white, remembers extending his hand to a white man during one of his campaigns. Mr. Vaughn said the man refused to take it, uttering a racial epithet and saying he would never vote for a black man.

In Iowa, Helen Miller, an assistant majority leader in the State House of Representatives, was advised by a supporter not to include her photograph in her campaign flyers to avoid alienating voters. (Ms. Miller ignored that advice and in 2002 became the first black legislator from her district.)

In New Hampshire, Representative Kris E. Roberts, the first black committee chairman in the legislature, said white lawmakers repeatedly confused him with two other state representatives, one African-American and the other Hispanic. Mr. Roberts said that he tried to laugh it off but that the mistake still stung.

“Sometimes we get together and joke, ‘Yeah, all of us brothers look alike,’ ” said Mr. Roberts, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who is chairman of the House veterans affairs committee. “But after four years, you would expect them to know the difference.”

Mike Carbone, a white retired councilman from Keene, N.H., who supports Mr. Roberts and Mr. Obama, said racism still influenced some people when they walked into the voting booth.

“In this small town here, you’ll hear people say, ‘I wouldn’t vote for that black man,’ ” Mr. Carbone said.

“But this man can talk and talk sense,” he added, referring to Mr. Roberts, who is running for re-election. “We’re in changing times. You’ve got to break the barrier somewhere.”

Some black lawmakers caution that white support for blacks at the local level may not necessarily translate into backing for Mr. Obama. But political analysts believe that experience with black leadership at the local level may have already helped some white voters feel comfortable supporting Mr. Obama in the Democratic primaries and may help him again in November.

Mr. Bositis, of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said the trend might have implications beyond the presidential election. State legislative seats are often steppingstones to higher positions, and these new politicians, he said, may well become the next generation of black governors, Congressional leaders and more.

“If these black candidates can represent white voters,” Mr. Bositis said, “then that substantially increases their horizons in terms of their political futures.”

Here in Brookline, Mrs. Levesque is still focused on November, even though a white rival, Don Ryder, believes she will easily win re-election. “Race never enters into it,” Mr. Ryder said. “Her chances are very good.”

Still, Mrs. Levesque, a telecommunications consultant who grew up in New Hampshire, sometimes marvels at how far she has come.

As one of a handful of black students in her junior high school, she experienced racial taunts, as well as advice that was well intended but unwelcome. Some sympathetic white friends, she said, suggested that she might have an easier time fitting in if she prayed for white skin.

But mostly, Mrs. Levesque said, she has been embraced by her white neighbors, colleagues and friends. In her district of 12,000 people, she is a member of the women’s club and a local church, which she joined with her husband and 12-year-old daughter several years ago.

And when she worried at first that voters might be put off by her complexion, her white friends suggested that she consider another, more positive possibility.

“ ‘You’ll stand out,’ ” said Mrs. Levesque, recalling their words. “ ‘People are always going to remember you.’ ”

Kitty Bennett and Barclay Walsh contributed reporting.

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