Signs grow that young Black voters are going to show up for Harris

Courtney McClain was 18 when she met then-Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) in 2019 at the Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, S.C.

When McClain arrived at the club, Harris, then a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, offered her some advice. 

“She told me that I don’t have to ask for permission, to make sure that I am always staying true to who I am. Then she told me that she was very proud of me,” McClain, now a master’s student at Howard University, told The Hill. 

McClain plans to cast her ballot to elect Harris in November, and polling suggests she isn’t alone.

Harris’s entry into the race has energized young Black voters, and could make a difference in a tight race against former President Trump that is likely to come down to seven swing states.

A September Washington Post/Ipsos poll of 1,083 Black Americans found that 69 percent are “absolutely certain to vote” in November, an increase from 62 percent in April when President Biden sat at the top of the ticket. 

The number of Black voters under 30 who say they are certain to vote in November increased by 15 percentage points since April. Among Black women under 40, the number of voters who said they intended to turn out increased by 18 percentage points.

The main reason, said Terrance Woodbury, founding partner of HIT Strategies, is the shift from Biden to Harris.

“She closed a generation gap that we saw when Biden was at the top of the ticket,” Woodbury said.

One of the top issues for Black voters going into November is the economy, according to polling from the NAACP. Sixty percent of Black voters younger than 50 said the economic conditions of the country are getting worse.

For Danny Steele, addressing the economy means tackling the racial wealth gap.

“We want to see policies that close the racial wealth gap, that can create more opportunities for homeownership and support Black entrepreneurship,” Steele, 21, told The Hill. 

Steele also wants to see policies that would reform the criminal justice system, meaningful changes to systemic racism and policing, and an expansion of voting rights protections.

That’s partly why he supports Harris, who has said she would sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act if it hits her desk and vowed to push for federal voting rights protections, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

Her small-business plan, a major component of her “opportunity economy,” is intended to help Black small businesses in particular.

“She challenges the status quo, showing our voices are being heard and are shaping the future,” Steele said. “I am more than excited. I will be part of history. I can tell my kids … I was able to vote for the first Black female president.”

Biden also supports the George Floyd and John Lewis legislation, but the way Harris speaks on some issues makes a difference for many voters. One such issue is abortion.

Ariana Levin, a senior at Spelman College in Georgia, wants Harris to speak on reparations — but added that hearing Harris speak on reproductive health care and ending the maternal mortality crisis means a lot. 

Black people are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. 

“Even if VP Harris doesn’t have children, she has a sister who has children. She has stepkids who may one day have children,” Levin said. “She knows that there are large communities of people out there who need this kind of support, and she is actively trying to make it so that we people who want to have children, people who want to have accessible health care and affordable health care and good health care are going to receive that.” 

A continuing weakness for Harris, relative to past Democratic presidential nominees, is Black men, who former President Trump has repeatedly courted.

Though the Post/Ipsos poll found that 80 percent of Black men support Harris, the NAACP poll found 1 in 4 under the age of 50 expressed support for Trump.

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Harris’s record compared to Trump’s should make it “absolutely clear how Black men should vote.” 

“I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure that Black men know the record, and when they know the record and the choices between the two options — one that’s about moving us forward or one that wants to take us back — I believe that Black men, as all Black voters, will choose Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on their ballot.”

Janiyah Thomas, Black media director for the Trump campaign, said Black voters will vote for the former president because the “American Dream is slipping out of reach for younger generations” and because “Democrats have continuously taken the Black community for granted.”

“Our team is actively engaging with the Black community, connecting directly with voters, and addressing the everyday challenges they face,” Thomas said. “Whether it’s in inner-city neighborhoods or through conversations with younger Black male podcasters, Team Trump understands that genuine engagement goes beyond empty rhetoric. We show up, we listen, and we put in the work to earn every vote.”

Overall, polling from Pew Research Center shows that young Black voters are more confident in Harris’s than Trump’s ability to handle issues that are important to them, including making good decisions about health care and economic policy and effectively addressing issues around race and law enforcement and criminal justice issues. 

And then there is the identity of Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. Black voters have indicated Harris’s identity is a driving factor in how they’ll vote.

Seventy-one percent said it is very or somewhat important that Harris could become the first female president, while 64 percent said the same about her being the second Black and first ever Asian American president, according to the Post/Ipsos poll.

“When I was younger, I just barely remember the first Obama administration, and even that was revolutionary for me as a child,” said Levin. “Young Black girls out there are able to see themselves in such a positive light and see themselves in the highest office in the world.” 

Steele said Harris has opened doors he never thought possible.  

“I would say to her, ‘You are a beacon of hope. You are an inspiration, a trailblazer,’” Steele said. “If you can ascend to the highest office in the land and do what you’re doing, why can’t I?”