The overwhelming majority of Black registered voters support Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. More than eight-in-ten (84%) say they would vote for Harris if the election were held today, while 13% say they would vote for Trump. Four years ago, 92% of Black validated voters cast their ballots for President Joe Biden and 8% voted for Trump.
Now that Harris is the Democratic nominee, the majority of Black voters (57%) also say they are very or fairly satisfied with the candidates in the race. In July, when Biden was the likely Democratic nominee, just 31% of Black voters said the same.
Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand Black voters’ views of the 2024 presidential election campaign.
This analysis is part of a larger study, for which we surveyed 9,720 adults – including 8,044 registered voters – from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, 2024. The survey included 936 Black adults, 743 of whom were registered voters.
Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.
Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.
While satisfaction with the candidates has improved among Black voters overall, there are notable differences by age. In particular, 57% of Black voters ages 18 to 49 say they are not too or not at all satisfied with the presidential candidates. Just 29% of Black voters ages 50 and older say the same.
Top issues for Black voters in the election
Majorities of Black voters say they are very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods (76%), the cost of housing (72%) and people wanting to work but not being able to find jobs (56%).
Indeed, a large majority of Black voters (82%) say the economy is very important to their vote this year. Sizable majorities also see health care (82%), racial and ethnic inequality (75%), violent crime (71%) and gun policy (66%) as very important issues.
For the most part, the importance of these issues is similar across demographic subgroups of Black Americans. But there are some differences:
- Age: Black voters ages 50 and older are more likely than those ages 18 to 49 to say health care (86% vs. 77%), violent crime (76% vs. 65%) and gun policy (72% vs. 60%) are very important.
- Gender: Among voters, Black women are more likely than Black men to say racial and ethnic inequality (79% vs. 70%) and violent crime (78% vs. 63%) are very important to their 2024 vote.
- Education: Black voters who do not have a college degree are more likely than those with a degree to say the economy (84% vs. 75%) and violent crime (74% vs. 62%) are very important.
Like Black voters, the majority of registered voters overall place the economy (81%), health care (65%) and violent crime (61%) among their top voting issues.
However, Black voters are significantly more likely than all registered voters to say racial and ethnic inequality is very important to their vote (75% vs. 37%). Black voters also differ from all registered voters on the importance of gun policy: 66% see it as very important, compared with 56% of all voters.
Black voters’ confidence in the candidates on issues that are important to them
About half of Black voters (48%) say that if Harris wins the presidential race, her policies would make things better for Black people. Only 8% of Black voters say the same about Trump’s policies.
Furthermore, Black voters are much more likely to be confident in Harris’ than Trump’s ability to handle issues that are important to them. About eight-in-ten or more Black voters are very or somewhat confident that Harris can:
- Make good decisions about health care policy (87%)
- Effectively address issues around race (86%)
- Make good decisions about economic policy (79%)
- Effectively handle law enforcement and criminal justice issues (78%)
No more than roughly 30% of Black voters are confident in Trump’s ability to handle any of these issues.
Demographic differences in confidence in Harris
- Age: Black voters ages 50 and older are more likely than those ages 18 to 49 to say they are confident that Harris can make good decisions about economic policy (89% vs. 64%) and effectively handle criminal justice issues (90% vs. 62%).
- Gender: Black women voters are more likely than Black men voters to say they are confident Harris can make good decisions about economic policy (85% vs. 71%).
Demographic differences in confidence in Trump
- Age: Though not a majority, Black voters ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those 50 and older to be confident that Trump can make good decisions about health care policy (33% vs. 17%); effectively address issues about race (27% vs. 13%); and make good decisions about economic policy (45% vs. 20%).
- Gender: Among voters, Black men are more likely than Black women to say they are confident Trump can make good decisions about economic policy (38% vs. 24%).
- Education: Black voters who do not have a college degree are more likely than those with a degree to say they are confident that Trump can make good decisions about economic policy (35% vs. 19%) and effectively handle law enforcement and criminal justice issues (27% vs. 14%).
Black voters are more confident in Harris than Trump on other national issues, too
On other issues of national importance, Black voters are also much more confident in Harris than Trump. Majorities are very or somewhat confident in Harris to:
- Select good nominees for the Supreme Court (85%)
- Make good decisions about abortion policy (84%)
- Make good decisions about foreign policy (83%)
- Make wise decisions about immigration policy (81%)
- Bring the country closer together (69%)
- Reduce the influence of money in politics (66%)
Again, no more than roughly 30% of Black voters have confidence in Trump on any of these issues.
However, Black voters differ from voters overall when it comes to their confidence in the candidates on several key issues. Voters overall express more confidence in Trump than Harris on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, criminal justice and reducing the influence of money in politics.
