Black voters make unexpected shift away from Democrats, poll shows

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – Black voters in the U.S. have shifted support away from Democrats from 2016 to 2024, the most recent New York Times/Siena Poll shows.

During the 2016 election, only 7% of black voters favored Republicans, which is a stark contrast to recent 2024 polling results, which show support for Republicans among black voters rose to 15%, according to The New York Times. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris grabbed 75% of support from black voters, however, former President and Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump reached 16%, which is a staggering 9% increase from 2020, according to September data from the Howard University Initiative on Public Opinion.

In September, a panel of black, undecided Georgia voters stated that they were leaning towards Trump, noting that the economy was better under the former president. When asked to raise a hand if they believed the economy was better under Trump, seven out of the eight members on the Cobb County panel raised their hands.

“He still has a business mindset, I think that lended somewhat and I think, yes, the trickle down, whatever previous stuff, and I think he just handles certain things a little better,” one individual on the panel who voted for Trump in 2020 and is leaning toward voting for him again said.

Individuals deemed “leaners” by the NYT/Siena Poll, who did not support Trump or Harris when able to select from various third-party candidates, were asked to choose between the Republican and Democratic nominees; 18% of black voters said they leaned towards Trump, while 15% said they leaned towards Harris.

Among the black voters surveyed in the poll, 83% of women supported Democrats, compared with 70% men. The margin of error for the black electorate is plus or minus 5.6 points.