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Vice President Kamala Harris may be making strides with Black male voters, countering previous perceptions of difficulty with the demographic. According to a new poll published by the Alliance For Black Equality on Oct. 25, Harris holds a 77% to 19% lead over Trump among Black men planning to vote. Researchers from the super pac believe that if this trend continues, it could position Harris to achieve over 90% support on Election Day, similar to the majorities that both Barack Obama and Joe Biden received from Black voters.
Breaking down the data, researchers found that Harris earned support among Black Gen Z men between Oct. 4 and Oct. 19. Specifically, her backing among this demographic rose from 59% to 69%. The poll indicated an even more significant increase among Black men aged 23-29, whose support leaped from 49.9% to 62.2%. Meanwhile, those aged 18-22 also saw a rise, moving from 47.7% to 52.7%.
“This poll is an encouraging sign that Vice President Harris has the potential to get to where she needs to be with Black male voters to win on November 5th. In just three weeks, she has made serious gains with young Black men and increased their support of her by 10 points,” said Dr. Alvin Tillery, founder of the Alliance for Black Equality. “These numbers provide evidence that Black men are not holding back their votes from Harris because of her gender and that Harris needs to keep doing what she’s doing: reminding voters of Trump’s threats to Black life and civil rights. If she continues along this path, I suspect her support from Black men will only keep growing.”
Despite Kamala Harris’ recent gains among Black voters, particularly following the ticket switch, there remains significant work to bolster her support among Black Gen Z voters. A closer look at the data reveals a notable age-gender divide: while 78.3% of Black Gen Z women support Harris, only 59.3% of Black Gen Z men do. This gap is even more pronounced compared to their millennial counterparts—74.6% of millennial Black women and 65.1% of millennial Black men support her.
Harris’s support among younger voters, particularly in swing states and among those who feel disconnected from politics, is still at risk. To combat this, targeted messaging highlighting Trump’s specific threats to Black communities could be crucial. Democrats believe that creating relatable, humorous video content can effectively illustrate the real consequences of a Trump administration—such as his endorsement of Stop-and-Frisk policies and the potential marginalization of Black history under GOP leadership.
By emphasizing the issues that resonate with Black voters, Harris can better clarify the stakes and work to enhance her support. The vice president and her team have already begun airing ads that demonstrate how Trump could negatively impact civil liberties; these ads resonated strongly, with 82.8% of poll respondents indicating that they believe Trump would be detrimental to Black Americans, according to the 2040 Strategy Group.
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