CHICAGO — Black politicians and activists at the Democratic National Convention insist that support for presidential nominee Kamala Harris isn’t lagging among voters of color, even as Democrats quietly spend money to persuade Black men to vote for her and polling suggests the effort is urgently needed.
Black Men Vote PAC is spending $4 million targeting Black men in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania messaging to show up and vote for Ms. Harris. The group plans to spend money on social media while building up a get-out-the-vote operation in mostly Black districts.
Democrats are mindful of warning signs such as a CBS News poll showing that if the election were held today, 81% of Black likely voters would vote for Ms. Harris compared to 18% for GOP nominee Donald Trump. That result would be far less than the usual level of support from Black voters for Democratic candidates, who typically receive more than 90% from that voting bloc.
In 2020, 92% of Black voters voted for Democrat Joseph R. Biden, while 8% cast a ballot for then-President Trump.
Former first lady Michelle Obama, speaking from the DNC stage this week, warned of the consequences of anything less than maximum support from traditional Democratic voters for the candidate who would become the first Black woman president.
“We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala, instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected,” Mrs. Obama said. “We cannot be our own worst enemies. The minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands. We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right.”
Black men’s voting habits are different from those of Black women. According to the Pew Research Center, Black women show up at the polls more often than Black men and vote more often for Democrats.
Republicans and Democrats this election cycle see Black men under 40 as an attainable demographic.
It’s one reason why the efforts of the Black Men Vote PAC, first reported by Politico, will include radio spots and hiring door knockers to highlight Ms. Harris’ political record. The outlet notes that the PAC has already spent more than $6 million on such an operation this cycle.
Organizers have set an overall goal of registering 100,000 voters, focusing on Black men in these three battleground states, and the group said the effort is about 80% finished.
At the DNC this week, party leaders downplayed any risk of Ms. Harris failing to attract enough support from Black voters. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Illinois Democrat, said it is a false narrative that Black men’s votes are up for grabs.
“It’s been a really bit of a false story that’s been given legs. Donald Trump has never done anything for Black men. In specific, he’s increased the budget HBCU’s, but President Biden has exceeded that,” Mr. Jackson said.
Black activists are not buying the polls, and say that Black men are in “lockstep” with Black women.
“Black men are right here with us. When you look around right now, you see Black men. You see Black women. We’re all here together,” said Monica Hutchinson, 44, of Henrico County, Virginia. “The polling is not right. They do not know how to poll Black voters, nor the Black community, But I don’t need a poll to tell me what’s happening in my house and my community, because I live it.”
Former D.C. Council member LaRuby May, an attorney, told The Washington Times that she thinks that while more Black men are vocal about their support for presidential candidates other than Ms. Harris, it does not mean they will not be eventually influenced to support her.
“Some Black men may support Trump or may support Dr. [Cornel] West, and I think Dr. West is a brilliant scholar, but the one thing that we know about Black communities, I think it’s true, is Black men follow Black women,” Ms. May said. “They follow their mothers. They follow their grandmothers.”
Although Black men overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, the results of this election cycle could be tight, and the winner may be decided on the narrowest of margins.
Additionally, a 2023 poll on gender attitudes conducted by PerryUndem, a public attitudes research firm, found that 57% of Black men believe would be better off if “we had more women of color in political office” but 56% of men overall disagree that the “country would be better off if we had more women in political office.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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