Honestly, putting race aside, there's little rationale for voting for voting for any candidate, other than party and positions on issues.
Lord, I strongly disagree. Competence is such an important measure, especially in a state office! I would happily vote for an ultraconservative/ultraliberal AG, for instance, if they did a good job and weren't overtly political.
I'll vote for the candidate with the right positions on issues, regardless of race or gender. I think candidates like Blackwell and Steele are put up with the knowledge that some people do vote based on race. I don't see that they were/are any worse than the typical Republican or Democratic candidate.
I agree.
I think the absolute worst quality candidates/politicians out there are black Democrats who represent heavily black districts/cities. They're positively dreadful, and there's far less rationale to vote for anybody with any brain activity to vote for them than there is to vote for a Blackwell or a Steele.
I really don't think ultra-white, ultra-liberal districts do all that better. It just tends to be that the most Democratic districts are often the most black (with some significant exceptions).