Who Are Black Men in Atlanta Voting For?

All eyes are on Georgia today, as months of campaigning come to a close in the 2024 presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are each vying for the Oval Office, focusing on Black men in the Peach State as a powerful voter demographic that could tip the scales in a crucial swing state.

While polling data recorded last month showed less overall Black support for Harris than President Joe Biden received during his 2020 election campaign, a more-recent CBS News poll conducted by YouGov in early October determined 87% of Black likely voters would vote for Harris and just 12% would vote for Trump.

An NAACP survey taken late last month found support for Trump among Black men under 50 years old was declining, slipping 6 percentage points as compared to one month prior.

Capital B Atlanta visited voting precincts in Vine City , Buckhead, and College Park to speak with Black male voters — many of whom said they had abortion rights and Project 2025 on their minds — about what drove them to the polls today and which candidate they chose in this race. Here's what they had to say.

Shawn Alston, 27

Alston, who voted at a precinct in College Park, said he cast a ballot for Harris and "definitely not" for Trump.

"He will send our world all the way back, and we've been making great progress. So for the Black men that are voting for Donald Trump, may God be with you, and we'll see how [Election Day] ends later on this evening," said Alston.

"The Project 2025 plan was not appealing to me at all. Kamala had an actual plan during the debate, so with that being said, I'm for Harris and Walz all the way."

Andre Tyler, 66

Tyler said he went with Harris as his presidential pick and that he came out to the polls to exercise his "constitutional right" to vote.

"I wanted to have our constitution remain intact for the most part and for women to have the right to make decisions about their health and safety for their bodies," said Tyler.

"You just eliminate all the rhetoric that you hear prior to voting, and you vote based on the person that you think is gonna do the best job and have your best interests at heart."

Terrell Garth, 46, operations manager

Garth said he voted for Trump in this election because he "didn't trust" Harris and felt aligned with the former president's policies.

"When Black men started saying they didn't like her, she started saying what she would do for us at the last minute," said Garth, referring to Harris' Opportunity Agenda for Black Men that she unveiled last month, following reports that Trump was gaining support from the voting bloc.

Garth added that the economy is a "big time" reason why he voted for the former president, saying that "Bidenomics suck."

(The Black unemployment rate was at historically low levels last year, with wages for Black people increasing, according to Algernon Austin , director of race and economic justice at the Center for Economic Policy and Research.)

"We were getting more tax child credit at the time and money back for day care, and then all that was cut. I know a lot of that was cut when [Biden] came into office," said Garth. Harris has proposed an expansion of the child tax credit as part of her economic plan — similar to the credit that expanded under Biden in 2021 before the program shuttered the following year.

Saada Seck, 29, student

Seck says he's voted in the past two elections but needed a nudge from his mother to get him out to the polls this time around.

"I'm kind of like a tweener," said Seck of his preference between Harris and Trump. "I could see the good on both sides, but I'm still on the Kamala side because I feel like the stuff Trump be talking about, I ain't all the way in support of."

"What got me is when Trump said that he's going to make ... immunity for police . That's kind of what threw me. That was kind of why I said I'm going to come out and vote."

Evan Lowther, 18, student

Lowther, who is a first-time voter, said he voted for Harris based on various anxieties he had regarding Trump's economic and abortion policies.

"I'm concerned about Trump giving tax exemptions to the upper 1% while Kamala Harris is giving the middle class tax breaks ," said Lowther.

Dontavious Moore, 34

Moore said he voted for Harris because he feels the vice president would do a "great job" in the Oval Office. He said he had concerns that Trump may impact his civil rights.

He said both abortion rights and Project 2025 were reasons why he did not want to vote for Trump.

"You should have the right to make a choice with your body. The government should not have that type of control over you. So that's one reason why I don't understand why Black men are voting for Trump. That doesn't make sense," said Moore.

Vanderbilt Harris, 49, restaurant manager

Harris said he cast a ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris, adding that having a woman as president would be the "ultimate change" the country needs right now.

"My biggest thing right now is the divisiveness that Trump brings to the table. It's very hard on every human being right now. People have anxiety for this election simply because they are afraid of what is going to happen," said Harris.

"We need a new way, and it's time for a new light. This country has never fathomed the thought of a woman running this country, but you know what? A woman running this country will be the biggest and best thing right now."