Black women favor Harris candidacy as minority support for Biden drops

President Joe Biden has suffered a steep drop in support among black women, who increasingly say they would favor a Kamala Harris candidacy, per a new poll.

According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of black female voters supported Biden in 2020. However, a recent poll conducted by Data for Progress shows the group’s support has dropped to 70% in the race between Biden, former President Donald Trump, and third-party candidates, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

In a two-way race between Trump and Biden, the poll shows that number rises to 79% of black female support for Biden.

Meanwhile, another recent survey from the Cut shows an even sharper decline in black women’s support for the 81-year-old candidate. Only 64% supported Biden in the poll conducted earlier this week. 

The survey also indicated that a majority of black Democrats in battleground states favor a Harris candidacy should Biden step down. Sixty-three percent of voters across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin think Biden should endorse the vice president if he drops out. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), an influential African American voice in the lower chamber, agrees that if Biden were to step down, he would support Harris.

The polls appear to confirm that cracks are deepening in a critical coalition of voters Biden must retain in order to win another term in the White House. Democratic pundits who say the black female vote galvanized a Democratic victory in 2020 are voicing concern that the dam is breaking in the Biden camp. 

Top Democrats, including Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, reportedly shared private doubts about Biden’s candidacy, but many have been silent publicly. Meanwhile, Rep. Marc Veacey (D-TX) became the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to call publicly for Biden to step aside on Friday. 

As concerns mount that minorities’ traditionally rock-solid support for Biden is eroding, a group of nearly 1,400 black women, including civic leaders, said this week that they aren’t going anywhere. 

“The suggestion that any candidate who won their primary should simply step aside because victory appears difficult at the moment is disrespectful to the voters, unjust and undemocratic,” the women wrote to Democratic Party leadership as they affirmed their support for Biden.