Black voters rejecting socialism
by Kelly Sadler · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Democrats are abandoning the party’s most cohesive and dependable voting base — Black voters — in favor of flashy, young and charismatic socialists.
Historically, about 80% to 90% of Black voters have aligned with the Democratic Party. No other major demographic in the U.S. votes as unitedly. Black turnout is essential for Democrats to win national elections, and candidates who fail to secure their support, as seen in the historically crucial South Carolina primary, rarely win the overall nomination.
However, the Black electorate is not a progressive monolith. About 73% of Black Americans identify as Christian, and nearly 97% believe in God or a higher power. About 59% of Black Americans consider religion “very important” in their lives, a rate higher than the general U.S. adult population.
Younger generations of Black voters are leaning more conservative, disenchanted with a political party that seems to take their vote for granted.
As the Democratic Party lurches further left, courting Democratic Socialists of America candidates, the Black vote has increasingly been ignored by the party establishment.
Black lawmakers and activists across the Deep South “say they’ve been let down by nearly all corners of the party: would-be presidential hopefuls who have flocked to early and swing states but do not bring their megaphones elsewhere; congressional leadership focused on majority-making battlegrounds while safe Black seats are drawn out; and years of chronic underfunding that has allowed local party apparatus to wither away,” Politico reported this month.
Unlike White, college-educated Democrats, Black Democrats are not falling for self-identified socialist candidates who do not support the state of Israel, reject Judeo-Christian values and want to abolish immigration enforcement and law enforcement.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won his Democratic primary without the Black vote. According to a New York Times analysis, Andrew Cuomo dominated in precincts where at least 70% of residents were Black, more than doubling Mr. Mamdani’s support, 59% to 26%.
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The “tough part that we’re wrestling with is Zohran won with support of liberal progressive White folk. Are these the same progressive White folk that are pricing us out and we can’t live in the community? That’s the tension,” Rev. Rashad Moore, who is Black and the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Crown Heights, told The New York Times of Mr. Mamdani’s victory.
In Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, establishment candidate Haley Stevens is leading DSA candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Her strengths, according to a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll conducted by the Glengariff Group released this week, are with Black voters (67% to Mr. El-Sayed’s 21%), non-college-educated voters (56% to Mr. El-Sayed’s 34%) and voters older than 55.
Mr. El-Sayed has been endorsed by Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Pramila Jayapal of Washington. In leaked audio, Mr. El-Sayed told his campaign staff that people in Dearborn were “sad” about the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and instructed them to avoid commenting on it.
Black voters are also skeptical of Mr. El-Sayed’s criticism of the Obamas, who are still beloved by Michiganders. In a 2010 editorial, Mr. El-Sayed was critical of first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign.
Ms. Stevens’ campaign, meanwhile, has deliberately highlighted her close ties to the Obamas. Ms. Stevens was Mr. Obama’s chief of staff in his auto industry bailout.
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Polls also show that Black voters oppose “defunding the police,” a stance adopted by many within the DSA. There is also a divide between the DSA’s Muslim candidates and their ideological framing. Black voters view politics through the lens of anti-Black racism, slavery and Jim Crow. Many feel the modern struggles faced by Muslim immigrants are different from the systemic, historical disenfranchisement they have experienced.
President Trump made significant inroads within the Black community in his 2024 campaign, winning 15% of Black voters, an increase from the 8% he won in 2020. A preelection Pew poll found that the economy and healthcare were the most important issues for the voting bloc, ahead of racial and ethnic inequality.
As the Democratic Party embraces the DSA, Republicans can build on Mr. Trump’s gains. For Black voters, socialism is not the answer; opportunity is.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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