Biden under pressure with black voters in key state: ‘He would have a big problem’

President Joe Biden‘s reelection could depend on a key demographic in Milwaukee, a pivotal city in 2020 but one that holds several swing districts.

Black voters in Wisconsin’s largest city emerged as a crucial voting bloc in the previous election between Biden and former President Donald Trump. Now some of them are questioning their commitment to the president.

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“There is no way to win a statewide election that doesn’t run through the black community,” Black Leaders Organizing for Communities Executive Director Angela Lang told organizers, according to CNN. “Understanding the dynamics that Wisconsin is an incredible battleground state and is a swing state. What happens in Milwaukee can impact the rest of the state, which ultimately can impact the rest of the country.”

According to exit surveys, Biden received 92% of the black vote in the 2020 presidential election. While black voters remained overwhelmingly loyal to the Democratic Party, that support could fade in 2024.

BLOC organizers said common complaints from people were a feeling of hopelessness, not wanting to vote, and police brutality against black youth, according to CNN.

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The reasons for a lack of enthusiasm to go to the polls for Biden, or anyone else, vary. But one thing organizers said is true of black voters is that there is a feeling of abandonment, like Biden and other politicians have failed to keep the promises they made to voters when they were on the trail.

Those hurt feelings could lead to low turnout among black voters, Devonta Johnson, an organizer, said. And if the election were held today, “he would have a big problem.”

There has been little progress on enacting federal police reform, a popular demand following the killing of George Floyd. Democrats and leaders of large cities pushed for a national reckoning around police violence and racial justice, with Minneapolis police officers re-upping calls on Biden and Congress in October to pass “meaningful” reform.

“People are wondering: What is he doing in terms of police accountability and criminal justice reform?” Lang said. “That is a big issue in our community.”

Biden’s campaign has been working to energize black voters. Early on, nearly three weeks after he announced his 2024 reelection campaign, Biden made a commencement address at Howard University, a historically black research university — a pitch to young voters.

The Democratic National Committee said the Biden-Harris campaign is expanding its outreach to black and Latino voters in Wisconsin and Arizona, DNC national press secretary Sarafina Chitika told CNN.

“Joe Biden knows the power and importance of Black voters – they were essential to his and Kamala Harris’ victory in 2020,” Chitika said in a statement to the outlet, adding, “We’re making early investments, including the earliest-ever paid investment in Black radio for a Democratic re-election effort.”

However, Lang said she has not “heard much” from the DNC while noting a Republican organization has been door-to-door canvassing.

After nearly three years as vice president, Kamala Harris’s poll numbers have worsened while some voters still want to see more of her in the administration. Harris was widely viewed as a key factor in Biden’s success in 2020, but she is struggling to regain favorability.

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“I was really excited to have a vice president that was a woman, who identified as a black woman,” Joanna Brooks, owner of Embody Yoga studio in the suburb of Glendale, told CNN. “I’m not sure she is being put to the best use right now. … I would love to see more of her. I have the feeling that she is under wraps a little bit.”

According to a CBS-YouGov poll from September, Harris has a 59% disapproval rating and a 41% approval rating.