The reliably Democrat black vote may be turning from blue to red.
An exit poll conducted after this month’s midterm elections showed that African-American voters played a vital role in helping Republicans prevail in two closely contested races: the Florida gubernatorial matchup between Republican Ron DeSantis and losing Democrat Andrew Gillum, and the Georgia governor’s race between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.
“Racists believe he is racist”
A report on the poll attributed Gillum’s loss to the large number of black women who voted red earlier this month. Gillum, an African-American man who once served as mayor of the state’s capital city of Tallahassee, would have been the first black governor of the state.
But the former mayor lost — despite running a widely racially charged campaign.
“Now, I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,” Gillum said of his opponent during his campaign. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he is racist.”
But according to the poll, nearly 20 percent of black female voters didn’t find his rhetoric appealing. Gillum received 92 percent of the vote from black men, according to the poll, but only 82 percent of the vote from black women.
And the Florida governor’s race came down to just 50,000 votes, meaning that Gillum likely would have won if he’d garnered the support from black women that he saw from black men, according to MTO News.
Blacks pull through for Kemp in Georgia
The Georgia gubernatorial race ended with a similarly shocking result: after receiving support from celebs like Oprah Winfrey, many Dems thought their candidate, Stacey Abrams, would prevail in Georgia to become the first African-American governor in U.S. history.
But while 97 percent of black women supported Abrams, 10 percent of black men voted against her.
That 10 percent meant a lot in her race against Brian Kemp, a Republican who won by just 17,000 votes in a forced runoff.
New voting pattern
Democrat pundits and candidates may be concerned about the growing number African-American voters marking Republican boxes, but the trend didn’t just start this election cycle, according to Washington Post columnist Vanessa Williams.
“Those numbers are reminiscent of the double-digit level of support that Donald Trump got among black men in the 2016 presidential election,” Williams wrote in an op-ed publishing on Friday. “Trump endorsed Kemp, which helped him win a runoff primary contest in July, and he traveled to Georgia to stump for Kemp two days before the Nov. 6 election.”
Democrats have been somewhat incredulous at the new trend — but it’s not surprising to see Republicans garnering support from a variety of races and backgrounds, especially as President Trump has actively worked to improve the lives of middle-class Americans that were forgotten by the previous Barack Obama administration.
And unfortunately for Dems, it doesn’t seem like Trump will be slowing his roll any time soon. If they want the blacks to vote blue in 2020, they best start acting now.
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