Harris makes deeper inroads than Biden among Black voters in Michigan, poll shows

Vice President Kamala Harris has enjoyed a surge in support among Michigan's Black voters since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her to replace him as the Democratic nominee, according to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY network poll.

A little over 70% of the Black voters surveyed in Michigan said they would vote for or lean toward Harris if the election were held today. Almost 9% of voters surveyed said they would vote for former President Donald Trump. Just over 6% said they would vote for independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., with smaller shares indicating support for other third-party candidates. Nine percent said they were undecided.

The poll was conducted Aug. 11-14. It surveyed 500 registered Black voters in Michigan via live calls, mobile and landline phones and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The results for Harris mark a significant improvement from Democrats' standing in the presidential race before Biden ended his reelection campaign last month. In a June USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll , 54% of Black Michigan voters surveyed said they would vote for Biden and 15% expressed support for Trump. That survey — conducted June 9 to 13 — interviewed 500 Black voters in the state and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Black voters in Michigan who said they would vote for Harris are more motivated to do so than Black voters who said in June they planned to back Biden: Seventy-seven percent of Harris supporters said they're very motivated to vote for her, compared with 52% of Biden supporters who said the same in June when he still was the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Harris also has improved on her own favorability ratings among Black voters this summer: In the June poll, 60% of surveyed Black voters in Michigan said they had a favorable view of Harris. Her favorability rating among Black voters surveyed stood at 72% in the August poll.

Overall, the poll brings some good news for Harris, Suffolk University Political Research Center Director David Paleologos said. But the survey also reveals some potential headwinds for Harris as she tries to home in on her economic message, while also fending off the threat of support for third-party candidates that could derail her bid for the White House, he said.

Michigan is home to one of the nation's largest majority-Black cities — Detroit — where Democrats tend to win by wide margins, but voter turnout could play a key role in a close election. Harris made her presidential candidate debut in the battleground state, just outside the city, last week where she delivered a speech at an airport hangar to a large crowd. "This election is going to be a fight," she told her supporters.

Can Harris deliver an economic message to win over more voters?

Among Black voters with an annual household income under $50,000, 44% said their household's financial situation has worsened over the past four years, compared with 27% who said it has improved. Those with higher household incomes, meanwhile, reported faring better financially during the past four years.

Paleologos called it a sign that any economic rebound that may be underway has not been felt among low-income Black households. "And that's a problem that Kamala Harris and the Democrats have to figure out," he said.

On the campaign trail, Harris has touted manufacturing investments and efforts to lower health care costs during her time in office serving alongside President Biden. At the same time, she has promised additional efforts focused on expanding economic opportunities, telling supporters during a recent Georgia campaign rally that "building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency." Harris has an opportunity to continue to sharpen her economic message to a national television audience from the stage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which kicks off on Monday.

Victoria Blake is a 47 year-old native Detroiter and autoworker at Stellantis' Mack Assembly Plant on the city's east side. She said she worries about the economic instability that has plagued middle class Americans like her. "It's not a middle class anymore," she said. Blake was one of the voters surveyed in the Suffolk University/USA TODAY network poll who said she plans to vote for Harris. "I just want her to make it better for us."

"I mean, I go to work every day, but it's just hard for us to live because once we pay all of our bills and things like that, then we're struggling to the next check," she added. Blake said she has enough money saved to keep her afloat. "But it's not as easy to take care of a family like it used to be if you're stuck in the middle."

Michigan 2024 Election: Harris sends campaign manager to meet with Arab-American leader in Michigan

Some voters express frustrations with Harris and Trump

But support for third-party candidates could cause a headache for Harris supporters like Blake.

"The chief obstacle that I can see isn't her trajectory," Paleologos said of Harris. "She's flying. She's soaring. It's the fact other candidates are going to be options on the ballot."

A plurality of the Black voters in Michigan frustrated with the major party candidates plan to back Kennedy. But some expressed support for other third-party candidates. Just under 4% said they'd support or lean toward independent candidate Cornel West if the election were held today, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each received less than 1% support among Black voters.

On Friday, however, the Michigan Bureau of Elections disqualified West, the civil rights activist and philosopher, along with his running mate from appearing on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot over a technical violation of state law.

Kennedy draws his support from younger Black voters, according to the poll's crosstabs. Nine percent of surveyed Black voters ages 35-49 backed Kennedy, and 7% of voters age 18-34 expressed support for the independent candidate. Seven percent of Black voters in urban areas said they'd vote for Kennedy.

Yvette Web, 60, of Wyandotte, who's studying to enter the medical field, said she plans to support Kennedy in the Nov. 5 election and said Harris can't do anything to win her support. "I think he would be a good choice because of his family," she said of Kennedy. She doesn't like what's happened at the U.S. Southern border while Harris has served as Vice President, citing the number of illegal crossings. She's not a big fan of Trump either, calling him the "flamin' Cheeto guy" who "has a lot of hate and revenge."

James Cotton II, 41, of Detroit, who works in an automotive parts factory, said he plans to support Kennedy to make Harris' fight for the White House harder. "If we could just teeter it a little bit to go toward Trump, because I know Robert's not going to win. Everybody knows that," he said.

He described his vote for Kennedy as a way to put the race between Harris and Trump on a knife's edge: "Just to make it even, because I think Kamala’s going to win regardless," he said.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen .

Looking for more on Michigan’s elections this year? Check out our voter guide , subscribe to our elections newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Harris makes deeper inroads than Biden among Black voters in Michigan, poll shows