Democrats overestimate the role of race in black voters’ decisions: Poll

Black voters have overwhelmingly voted with the Democratic Party for decades, but as some shift toward the Republican Party , a poll suggests Democrats are misreading how to keep them voting blue.

A New York Times-Siena College poll of black voters shows that Vice President Kamala Harris holds a commanding 78%-15% lead over former President Donald Trump , but that margin is down significantly from the Democrats' advantage with the demographic in 2016 and 2020. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won black voters over Trump, 91%-6%, while in 2020, President Joe Biden won the demographic over Trump, 92%-8%, according to the Pew Research Center.

Harris would be the first female black president and the second black president if elected on Nov. 5, but black voters vote more on economic and other policy factors rather than race, the newspaper reported .

Feelings about the economy, like the rest of the electorate, are lukewarm to bad among black voters, according to the poll. Only 26% of black voters surveyed rated the country's economic conditions as excellent or good, while 74% rated it as fair or poor. The economy was the most common top issue for deciding how to vote among the demographic (20%), with the cost of living and inflation also receiving 9%.

Other top issues for black voters included abortion (17%), character or competence of the candidate (11%), and immigration (5%). Equality was only listed as the most important deciding factor at 3%, while only 2% of black voters polled listed the topic of racism and racial issues.

The report finds that voting blocs are increasingly more reliant on economic status and education, among other factors, rather than race. Trump's inroads with black, Hispanic, and other minority voters who have reliably voted heavily Democratic for decades have caused some panic among party members.

“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris said during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists last month. “Black men are like any other voting group. You’ve got to earn their vote. So I’m working to earn the vote.”

Harris's campaign is hoping to shore up wide margins for the black vote in the home stretch of the campaign, with a specific focus on black men as her campaign struggles with the male vote.

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The vice president will sit down with Charlamagne Tha God, host of The Breakfast Club radio show, on Tuesday. The campaign has also enlisted the help of former President Barack Obama, the first (and currently only) black president, to appeal to black men.

Obama made the pitch to black men last week, saying that it is "not acceptable" for black men not to support Harris in her bid for the White House.