A poll released Tuesday found Black voters in Georgia are dissatisfied with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
The survey, conducted by Black to the Future Action Fund and HIT Strategies, polled 1,200 adults in North Carolina, Georgia and California. The results found that 60 percent of Black voters in Georgia have unfavorable or very unfavorable views of Kemp.
Only 15 percent of respondents reported favorable views of Kemp, and 61 percent of Black voters in Georgia reported they are dissatisfied with the direction of the state.
This is in stark comparison to Black voters’ support of Democratic governors in California and North Carolina. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had a 61 percent favorability and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) had a 64 percent favorability rating among Black voters.
“Republicans want you to think Black voters are flocking to them, but the reality is that Black voters are going to the polls with our priorities in mind – priorities that lift up our communities that the GOP doesn’t have policies for,” said Alicia Garza, principal of Black to the Future Action Fund, in a press release.
“Elected officials and candidates in these states must prioritize economic recovery, protecting voter rights and access and combating white supremacist violence to be responsive to their Black constituents,” she added.
Stacey Abrams, Kemp’s Democratic challenger, had the highest favorability rating of any candidate the survey asked about, at 80 percent.
This follows concerns voters expressed about “politicians making it harder for Black communities to vote,” something Abrams has been outspoken about in her second battle against Kemp.
Abrams’s support among Black voters comes after a record-breaking first week of early voting in Georgia. On Monday, Abrams’s campaign said they’re confident she will be elected as the country’s first ever Black female governor, despite her trailing in national polls.
But the poll also showed Black voters’ top priorities this election cycle include inflation and cost of living, crime and gun violence.
Respondents also reported that things like white supremacy and nationalist violence, racism and discrimination and criminal justice reform, including police brutality, are getting worse around the country.
Still, Black voters in these three states said they have seen the Biden and Harris administration make progress on other important issues, like education, student loan debt and jobs and the economy.
President Biden held a 63 percent favorability rating among Black voters.
Eighty-nine percent of Black voters in California, Georgia and North Carolina said they will almost certainly vote in the midterms this year. Meanwhile, 68 percent of Black voters in Georgia and California said they believe their vote holds power.
Tuesday’s poll is the first of three Black to the Future Action Fund and HIT Strategies will release between now and December. In addition to polling, Black to the Future is also field organizing in an attempt to mobilize Black voters to the polls for the November election.
According to Garza, over the next two years the organization will focus on governor and secretary of state races in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana and Wisconsin.
“We chose these states to invest in for the next five years because each reflects tremendous opportunities to build the power of Black voters in the state and increase the number of Black community members who participate in elections,” said Garza. “Our goal is to shift the balance of power in the midterms and beyond in favor of the policy priorities of Black communities.”