Black Voters Need Biden to Prioritize Voting Rights ... & Sour on Democrats in 2022

The January HIT Strategies survey shows Black voter approval for Biden and Democrats still hemorrhaging as the 2022 midterm cycle commences

a HIT Strategies feature

President Joe Biden’s most recent job performance approval numbers, from among all Black Voters, stood at 73 percent. This was compared to December’s approval rating of 77 percent. As President Biden’s approval declined, he maintained a supermajority approval among Black voters. Of those respondents over 50 years of age, Biden’s approval was reported at 86 percent, while his approval with respondents under 50 years of age was reported at 64 percent.  

The data is from the latest January BlackTrack, a monthly survey by HIT Strategies to track Black voters’ evolving attitudes on various national and political issues. The February BlackTrack was conducted between January 15-21, 2022.

Noteworthy: Survey participants acknowledged the President’s increased focus on voting rights. The number of Black voters who reported that Biden has made voting rights one of his top three priorities rose significantly, from 8 percent to 21 percent. Furthermore, the number of voters that wish for Biden to prioritize voting rights as one of his three central issues increased from 15 percent to 22 percent. The Freedom to Vote Act registered an 83 percent approval rating with participants. 

“For President Biden to stop the declining approval among Black voters, he will need to take a more active role in messaging, telling Black voters of his progress on Black issues ahead of the mid-term election cycle,” said Terrance Woodbury, a founding partner at HIT Strategies. “There is so much he can talk about that many Black voters aren’t aware of.” 

Beneath the Numbers …

• President Biden’s decline in approval was especially significant among young Black voters between 18-29, where his numbers dropped from 76 percent to 60 percent since last month 

• 60 percent of Black men believe the Democratic Party takes Black voters for granted compared to 47 percent of Black women 

• 56 percent of respondents reported that they would be more likely to vote for Democrats if they were able to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, compared to 9 percent who said it would make them less likely to support Democrats 

Other Takeaways …

Supreme Court (taken before vacancy announcement) 

• Total respondents reported a 57 percent job performance approval, 43 percent reported disapproval 

• Men reported 54 percent approval with 46 percent disapproval 

• Women reported 59 percent approval with 41 percent disapproval 

Biden Agenda 

• 40 percent believe that Biden’s stimulus checks were one of the top two things that have improved their lives during his presidency 

• Handling of COVID-19 and “restoring dignity” to the Office of the President were the following two most highly selected answers, garnering 26 percent and 20 percent, respectively 

Democrats and Elections

• Congressional Democrats’ approval rating among Black voters is down 20 points from an 85 percent mark in September 2021 to 65 percent in January 2022 

• 71 percent of respondents reported planning to vote for a Democrat in the 2022 mid-term elections, 7 percent for a Republican, 3 percent for a 3rd party, with 19 percent either undecided or not planning on voting