Democrats looking to win in 2018 must do more to be the party that represents a diverse, changing and progressive America. This begins with developing a clear understanding of the electorate—specifically black Americans, who have long remained faithful to the party. Yet, even among black voters, particularly young ones, things are changing. Gone are the days of accepting engagement with the party once every election cycle with nothing in return for their vote. Black people have critical issues of concern that they want addressed for themselves, their families and communities.
This represents a shift in politics as usual. Traditional black outreach has focused on voter turnout. But one newly formed organization is concerned about engaging black voters around issues of relevance and importance for the black community—on Election Day and beyond.
Black PAC was founded in 2016 and operates under the leadership of Adrianne Shropshire, a long-time organizer and activist who has worked for decades on issues of economic and racial justice. Black PAC’s mission is clear—to demonstrate the power that black voters wield and to rally them around an agenda to dismantle structural racism and increase opportunity. The group does this by connecting with voters through long-term and sustained engagement. And though you may have never heard of Black PAC, you are certainly familiar with the results of its work. The organization was critical to 2017 Democratic electoral victories in Virginia and Alabama.
In a call with Daily Kos, Shropshire emphasized that, for black voters, both the special elections in 2017 and the midterms this year are specifically about issues and an agenda that will improve black lives.
“For black voters this cycle—and this didn’t just start in 2018, we saw this last year’s special elections and in November—this cycle is really about issues for black voters and really about an agenda,” Shropshire said. “And so while one of those issues is the rise of racism and the impact that’s having on black communities, which black voters place squarely at the feet of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, there’s also a set of issues that people care about very deeply.”
Black PAC’s strategy: talk to black voters early and often and turn them out to vote for candidates who speak to their areas of concern. Addressing key issues was key to Black PAC’s successful voter outreach in Alabama and Virginia. In Alabama, the organization spent $2.1 million to engage with voters about access to health care, the growth of livable and union-protected jobs, and criminal justice system reform. The group knocked on more than 500,000 doors in majority black communities across the state and spoke with more than 130,000 voters.
In Virginia, Black PAC spent $1.1 million while addressing black Virginians’ concerns about racial justice and white supremacy. There, it knocked on another 50,000 doors and secured pledges to vote from 90 percent of the people who were engaged. They also sent text messages to more than 50,000 voters in the days leading up to Election Day.
Black PAC utilized this same strategy in last month’s Georgia Democratic primary. The organization spent $1.2 million on engaging black voters around the issues of economic and educational fairness and racial justice. Its members knocked on over 23,000 doors and aired TV ads across the state which reached more than 4 million voters.
Something the group is doing is clearly working in terms of getting Democrats elected. Recently, the organization commissioned a large-sample, multi-state poll of black voters in eight key battleground states. The poll was conducted by Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies, led by renowned Democratic pollster, Cornell Belcher. The results give insight into the diversity among black voters, their deep dissatisfaction with the current political climate and the issues they rank as most important for them. More importantly, it indicates that Democrats could be in trouble if they continue to ignore issues of importance to black communities.
In a telephone interview, Belcher acknowledged that this kind of poll doesn’t happen very often and would not have if it were not for Black PAC. He stressed the poll’s success in delving deeper into the black community to understand values and culture, beyond politics.
Shropshire and Belcher say that there is no single issue is motivating black voter engagement this year and that people are very concerned about issues like economic insecurity, wages, housing, health care, education and college affordability. However, it is the issues related to racial justice that are the most motivating in terms of engaging people to vote and take action. These issues are framed broadly in the areas of voting rights, police accountability, criminal justice etc. Therefore, candidates and the Democratic Party running on “the resistance” to Trump is not, on its own, enough to secure votes. Instead, there is a resistance that black voters, young and old, have to the overall environment.
“The largest gaps [in the poll] are between the importance of these issues and how Democrats are doing on those issues,” Belcher said. “Fighting racism and discrimination, police harassment, funding for schools, crime and violence. … There are a lot of issues that are important to African Americans that, frankly, Democrats are not well positioned on right now. Democrats need to do better in terms of showing that they are fighting for these issues and the community and these votes than they are.”
Shropshire said the poll is not a one-time thing nor should it be if we are to really understand what is happening to the black electorate over time. She emphasized that 2016 clearly demonstrated that black people who vote don’t always think the same way about issues, about what’s happening in the country or how they choose to participate. Therefore, it is important to explore why voting dropped off among black voters in 2016 and why some chose to vote third party. This is why the poll targeted a wide range of people—across gender, age and location.
“What typically happens [with regard to polling black voters] isn’t enough information for the kind of work that Black PAC is trying to do,” Shropshire said. “Part of that is based on what we saw in 2016, in terms of this idea that the approach to the black electorate is either specifically about who are black people going to vote for or the assumption that the vote is generic. That’s not helpful in understanding how black folks engage in our democracy.”
Understanding how young voters of color are shaping the outcomes of elections is also key—both in 2016, 2018 and beyond. Belcher is steadfast in his belief that these voters, who voted third party or did not vote at all in 2016, influenced the outcome of the last presidential election. He says that young black people are not motivated by their vote being used as a check on Trump. Instead, they see voting as a way to force movement and support an issue agenda focused on their community.
The data from the poll reflects this. Some highlights:
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There is a considerable gap (18 points) between millennial vote likelihood (65 percent very likely) and baby boomers (83 percent very likely).
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Black millennial men are even less likely to say that they are very likely to vote.
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Millennials are notably less interested (50 percent much more interested) in voting and participating in this year’s midterm election than older voters (69 percent of boomers say they are much more interested).
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Millennials are less likely to identify strongly with the Democratic party and among the most likely to be undecided or choosing 3rd-party in their generic midterm voting preference.
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These voters are consuming information differently than older voters and less reachable through conventional media outlets.
This is where Democrats have a tremendous opportunity—if they are willing to invest the time. There is now more clarity about what matters to black voters. Trump remains a symptom of the larger issues impacting black people every day. His racism has exposed the ugliness and hatred we thought had changed over time, but he simply picked at the scab over deep wounds that had never been healed. In other words, he alone is not the problem (though he is certainly a big problem).
Democrats need to recognize that. The party will be hard pressed to continue to get young black votes if they aren’t willing to treat the root cause instead of just the symptom. Young black voters are dynamic and independent. And they are responding to their environment with a different kind of urgency. They want diverse politicians who will not only address Trump, but all of the issues that impact their lives, and the well-being of their families and communities.
Shropshire notes that, ultimately, black voters want candidates, progressives in particular, to be having direct conversations with them about what matters. These conversations need to happen early and often with an eye toward helping people understand how they remain engaged after elections.
“There’s a need to talk with folks about what happens after the election. What’s the accountability measures for people that we elect? What are the engagement opportunities for voters after they leave the polls?” Shropshire said. “A healthy democracy can’t just be that people show up and vote. They have to be engaged in the policy, legislative, issue fights that actually move the agenda that got discussed during the campaign.”
Today’s black voters want and expect more from politicians than empty promises and an expectation that they will vote for Democrats. Not only do they want change—they want a candidate and political party to lead on issues of racial and economic injustice and to demonstrate that they are willing to work on behalf of the things that black communities say are most important for them.
Black PAC has started the long overdue conversation to ask black voters what they want. And black voters are responding. The question is whether or not the Democratic Party will listen going forward.