Here’s What Black Swing-State Voters Care About This Election
As Americans go to the polls today, much of the nation's attention will turn to the math of this historic election. How many votes have been cast — early or on Election Day — and of course, whether either of the major party's candidates have amassed enough support in the right combination of states to claim 270 electoral college votes . The answers will determine whether former President Donald Trump claims a second term in the White House or, at the age of 78, likely ends his political career with a loss to the Black and Southeast Asian woman who could become the nation's first female president, Vice President Kamala Harris.
While the potential influence of Black voters will ultimately be determined by turnout, the eligible Black voter population around the country is projected to reach 34.4 million this year, according to the Pew Research Center . In 2020, the most recent presidential election cycle for which detailed state-level data is available, more than one-third of the nation's then 30 million eligible Black voters lived in nine of the nation's most competitive states. They included Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Other populations, namely Latino and Asian American voters, have experienced faster rates of growth but have historically participated in elections at lower rates than Black voters, making the Black electorate's choices clearly determinative in some 2024 swing states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan.
But, beneath the numbers are people. Capital B spent the last weeks of the 2024 election crossing the country and speaking with Black voters in swing states about the issues and expectations that shaped their voting decisions. In the process, a few major issues and areas of concern emerged. Here is what they had to say. Some of their remarks have been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Economy
No single issue came up more often among Black swing state voters contacted by Capital B than the economy. It is the concern looming largest for most Americans, according to a recent poll. In the final weeks of September, Gallup researchers found that 52% of Americans described the economy as the most important of the 22 issues likely to influence their vote in the presidential election. That's a level of economic angst unseen since October 2008, during the Great Recession.
"I need some attention to prices. Prices, prices, prices, because prices are absolutely ridiculous." — Alyce Hobson, 80, a retired social service agency assistant, Philadelphia
"There has to be an economy and leadership that is committed to the good of the whole and doing all we can to support the overall society. If I have to pay a few more bucks for taxes and invest a little more in the well-being of our nation, I want a president who calls for that. I'm willing to make that investment because it's just the right thing and it's the necessary thing to do to sustain our humanity and our civility as a nation." — the Rev. Malcolm T. Byrd, 69, a pastor, adjunct professor and nonprofit organization leader, Philadelphia
"Prior to COVID, looking at the economy that was built, looking at his approach to domestic issues, energy production, to me it's a no brainer. Trump is the man. As a small-business owner, my business was doing fantastic under Trump. My position on Trump is from a policy perspective. I'm not so much a member of the cult of personality. I wasn't a fan, quite frankly, of some of the deficit spending, his building the national debt. When it comes to the economy — and I'll admit that some of the credit for this goes to [former President Barack] Obama and what he set up — what we got with Trump those first two years was very, very good." — Addul Ali, 45, a veteran and podcast co-host who during the Trump administration ran a tow truck business. Ali is also the Republican candidate for North Carolina's 12th Congressional District seat, which includes Charlotte.
"With the way the economy is now, it's hard for us to get the basic necessities and not feel like we're barely surviving. We're not really living. We're all kind of surviving, just getting by day-by-day." — Kaiden Lymon, 20, college student, Atlanta
"I do care about the economy, but to me, a big part of that is working people getting better wages, and I do think Kamala Harris understands that. There's far more of us than the wealthy elite. And I know that people aspire to be them, but there needs to be much more focus on the majority, helping the people to have jobs and jobs that pay people a decent wage." — Edna Green, 64, an investigator for a nonprofit mental health organization,
"In our neighborhoods, we need a lot of help, and everybody probably just doesn't know who to get the help from. Yesterday, I found a lot of people were worried about housing because the houses got bought up in this neighborhood. So now they gotta move, and they've been living there for 40, 50 years. So now they're worried about housing because rent surged over the last two years. And then we end up with poor people, drunk people with mental health issues because you got too much on you." — Latoya Harris, 36, political organizer, Milwaukee
Policing, Guns and Crime
Black swing state voters expressed concern about crime and their general sense of safety. While some worried about becoming the victim of street crime, many more mentioned the state of policing in their city, the potential impact of Trump's promise of police immunity , the easy availability of guns and the absence of congressional action to stem the tide of gun crimes and in particular mass shootings.
"I was in first grade when Sandy Hook [Elementary School mass shooting] happened. So, I don't think I can remember a time when I wasn't aware and I guess at some level worried that someone will just come in and start shooting. At school. In the mall. When you go to the movies or the grocery store. It's everywhere." — Marie Dillard, 18, college student, Philadelphia
"I will say criminal justice has to be my top issue. As a Black man in America, you have to be concerned about criminal justice and the state of policing right along with the economy, economic opportunity and education. The police can kill you, and in Trump's America they will have complete immunity. The other issues matter, but only if you are alive." — Roy Tatem, 48, political consultant, Phoenix
"Republicans, they don't want to do anything about gun control. That's not good at all. These kids out here today, I don't know where their heads are, where they're coming from. They just kill each other for no reason. So the president and the Congress have got to bring some kind of logic, some limits to how quickly and easily anybody can get the most powerful guns you can imagine." —
"We have to address mental health, having kids get the proper mental health screening and treatment for problems they seem to have. And then also, support for the families. If the family is going from motel to motel, they have no stability. And then you know, the mother trying to work, maybe she's working two jobs, and then who's supervising the kids. Then that house becomes a problem house. It's just, it's a web that the country has to be willing to untangle." — Imam Ronald Shaheed, 51, one of the leaders at a predominantly Black mosque, Charlotte
"It's undeniable what she's been able to do for so many Black men who are impacted by systems [prison, probation, parole]. The violence interruption and gun violence work this administration has done, that Kamala Harris has done, has saved lives. It's given people jobs which are actual careers. Yet that's not the focus of her campaign. I haven't even heard it mentioned." — Alia Harvey-Quinn, 42, leads a violence interruption program but spoke in her individual capacity only, Detroit
"Kamala has shown throughout her career that she can make sensible policy reform within the policing system. I was almost arrested as a youth by an overzealous officer at a school event. We need to place funding in programs that will give youth an upper hand on adulthood and careers." — James E. King Jr., 38, chief operating officer, Powder Springs, Georgia
Reproductive Rights, Women's Rights
If inflation and economic issues are the top issues for most voters, for women under 30, reproductive rights have emerged as the primary election concern. Nearly 40% of young women told researchers with the Kaiser Family Foundation abortion is the most important issue shaping their vote in a poll conducted in September and October. But, among the Black swing state voters contacted by Capital B, older voters also expressed particular concern about abortion bans and their potential impact on the lives of women and girls.
"The one top thing to drive my vote is the issue of abortion. To me, it's up to the woman to make her decision because at the end you have to judge yourself and God's got to judge you. But that's the top of my list because I've been here long enough to know where we are headed if these laws aren't changed, these bans aren't lifted. What this will do to women and their children, what this will do to our daughters and their lives is dangerous. It's tragic. And some of us remember." — Carolyn Yasmin Saleem, 76, baked goods business owner, Charlotte
"In an ideal world, there would be no abortion, there wouldn't be no need. There would be no fornication. That's not what any of us are supposed to do. You are supposed to be married. But this is not that world. People don't always do what they are supposed to, and every woman and every child ain't healthy or safe or conceived the same way. So these bans and all don't make good sense to me." — Brian Dunn, 67, musician, former auto factory worker and landscape business owner, Detroit.
"Regardless of the situation you are saying, no, I don't have a choice. I am past my baby making years. But, It makes me shudder — absolutely shudder — to think those will be the rules for my daughter." — TaJuanda Greene, 51, chef, Detroit.
"I tend to look at things from a spiritual perspective. So I am anti-abortion. I am pro-life. I think these bans are going to make both men and women more accountable, and that's not a bad thing." — Gloria Niles, 73, a semi-retired administrative assistant and department store retail clerk, Detroit
Among the issues that Black voters in six of the seven swing states raised repeatedly with Capital B was education. Their concerns centered on the state of public education, their sense that quality is declining and funding being siphoned off to pay for school-choice initiatives in several states. Others expressed deep concern about the cost of higher education. But, in a departure from most presidential elections, education has received little campaign time. And, Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration that the former president has disavowed, calls for a near shut-down of the U.S. Department of Education.
"I know that part of the current Republican agenda is to do away with the Department of Education and to do away with Head Start programs. I believe in public education. I believe in early childhood education. I believe in college-level public education. I believe in education as not just an individual right, but as something that makes the entire nation better. So I am a fan of policies that will preserve the idea of education for all." — Kenja Hassan, 51, college administrator, Phoenix
"If this thing is going to turn around so that we can continue to provide practical, reasonable education for the folk who are coming up and this country can remain a source of innovation and a place of prosperity, we need a government at every level that is committed to that and certainly a president who values learning, who respects fact, and as a part of that, the truth. If you ask me, we are at risk, this cycle, of letting the fox into the hen house. Anyone who supports this idea that the Department of Education needs to go away, be done away with — what does that say about the value and importance of education to our nation? " — Arthur Griffin Jr., 76, a Vietnam War veteran, Mecklenburg County Commissioner and retired education publishing executive. Griffin, a Democrat, is also seeking reelection to an at-large commission seat in Charlotte.
"Parental choice in education, across the board, is something that I think everybody agrees with, that everybody wants, it's just a matter of the details. More particularly, I think everybody agrees with improving literacy outcomes," —
"To me, and I think to just about everybody, the cost of education is really outrageous. We have to decide that education is good for our entire society, and then we need a president who pushes us in that direction. That, to me, is Ms. Kamala Harris." — Yasmin Saleem
"Education is probably the most valuable thing a country can provide. It ought to be more than solid. It ought to take every child every place they want to go." —
"Education quality and costs is not the place to bargain. It ought to be available and really why can't this country pay for education, all the way up through college. Many other countries do. Why can't we do that?" —
While comments at a late October New York City rally appear to have awoken some voters to the naked bigotry that has been a part of the Trump campaign since the 2016 election cycle, many Black swing state voters contacted by Capital B were already well aware and troubled by what they have long seen. More Black voters — 80% — than any other racial group described Trump as a racist in a July 2019 Quinnipiac poll and again when a similar question was posed by Washington Post/ Ipsos Poll researchers in a January 2020 survey .
"The lies upon lies that he's told, on top of the racism and the bigotry and all of that. Trump supporters, to me, want to believe that's some kind of solution, that they can hate their way to a better life. They want to believe his lies that he is better for the economy when he doesn't really have a plan. Basically, he wants to convince as many people as he can that somebody else belongs at the bottom, pushing them closer to the top. It doesn't stand up, and that kind of building will not stand." — Yasmin Saleem
"I believe in peace. I believe in peacefulness, and we need someone who will represent us that way, in love, with the belief that there is enough. Enough food, enough jobs, enough for us all. Trump likes to villainize and pit people against one another. That's not going to help any of us." — Ruth Upshaw, 69, retired nurse, Detroit
"I grew up in New York and I grew up in a hip-hop lifestyle, and never, growing up, never did I hear Donald Trump was a racist one time. So when I started to hear this, Donald Trump is a racist, this, that, and third, it was like, wait a minute. Why all of a sudden now?" —
"No one with any sense or any kind of real love in their heart should despise people they do not know, should distrust and want to see people suffer because they are not like them. That Trump tells people all of that is alright. That's not his invention, but he certainly has done big things with those ideas." —
By the end of the 2024 election cycle, Trump and Harris described the other as a "threat to Democracy." However, only Trump has been indicted for his role in an attempt to stymie the transfer of power to his successor. Only Trump has said that he will function as a dictator on day one should he secure a second term. And only former Trump aides have described him as a fascist.
"My primary concern is the preservation of our democratic process, meaning that doing what the United States has been doing is not easy. This idea of having 330 million people all living together all making decisions together all with the power to push and pull is really, really, not an easy accomplishment. And what I want to see in this election is the majority of Americans deciding that yeah, I'd rather have a group decision on major issues than one single man who has his finger on the button for every single thing. This is still a work in progress, and I am up for the preservation of that." —
"I've knocked on doors and done the canvassing thing or tagged along with someone knocking on doors in every single election since 1967. I believe in it. I like the idea that what we have in this country we create, together. What we experience, we kind of create, together and what we want no one to suffer, we decide, together." —
"It is unimaginable to me that a presidential candidate isn't a clear supporter of democracy. But, here we all are. We are living through that election with that candidate right now and have all seen, on Jan. 6, that he is not alone. That's one of the reasons I just don't want to wake up the next morning and say I could have done more. This is, I do believe, the most important election of our lifetimes. I really fear that democracy as we know it will be no more." –.
"Every man should vote their condition and do so with compassion for others, concern and compassion. And that should lead you to the right conclusion. I would never suggest how people should vote, but we, of all people, must vote." —
Malaika Jabali contributed reporting from Milwaukee. Ann Hill Bond and Chauncey Alcorn contributed from Atlanta.
