Vice President Kamala Harris has regained a strong advantage with black voters after Joe Biden saw some slippage, but she is still behind the president’s 2020 lead with that demographic.
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted from Aug. 23 through Tuesday showed that among black adults, 76% said they are definitely or probably voting for Harris, while 82% of registered black voters said they would definitely or probably vote for the vice president. Her numbers are an improvement on Biden’s showing when he was the presumptive Democratic nominee. He had only 66% of black adults and 74% of registered voters saying they would definitely or probably vote for him in a survey conducted by the pollster in April.
While Harris, who could become the first woman and first Asian American elected president, has seen a steady improvement with black voters from Biden, she is still behind where she and Biden were four years ago. In the 2020 election, the Biden-Harris ticket received 91% support from black voters, according to the Associated Press VoteCast.
Former President Donald Trump saw a dip in support from black voters since the last poll in April. That survey showed 14% of both black adults and registered black voters saying they would definitely or probably vote for him, while the September poll shows 13% of black adults and 12% of registered black voters said they would definitely or probably vote for the former president.
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein saw significant drops from the April poll with black voters, with both falling from roughly 8% and 5%, respectively.
While black voters only made up 11% of the electorate in the 2020 election, according to AP VoteCast, Democrats’ traditional dominance with the group has been a key to their coalition in winning elections. Polls this year had indicated that Trump may have cut into Democrats’ advantages with black and Latino voters, which could cause trouble for Democratic candidates on Election Day.
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Among all voters, the race between Harris and Trump remains tight nationally and in the swing states that will decide the election.
A New York Times-Siena College poll released Sunday showed Trump leading Harris, 48%-47%, ahead of the first presidential debate between them on Tuesday.