New research sent a warning to Democrats that a key voting demographic may not be ready to turn against President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Pollsters released new data that shows Democrats must take steps to energize young Black men in this year's elections by explicitly addressing racial and economic justice issues or risk losing their votes, reported NOTUS.
“Black people are pissed off,” said veteran Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury, who led the research. “But them being pissed off won’t result in mobilizing action now and potentially on Election Day, unless we connect the dots to what the federal government is doing and how it is hurting them personally.”
The share of Black Americans who took steps to resist Trump, such as voting, protesting or signing a petition, had dropped from 34 percent to 28 percent since 2020, Woodward said, and that drop was pronounced among younger Black men – who shifted a bit toward Trump in 2024.
Research produced by the Black Opposition Project found that 41 percent of Black men under 50 believed that Trump's policies had hurt them, but that was much lower than the 68-percent share of other Black voters, including men over 50, who believed the president had a negative affect on them.
Pollsters also found that 17 percent of Black voters – nearly one in five – believed the president's policies had helped them, which was more than double for any other demographic group.
“My warning to Democrats has been what it’s always been, and that is that these are swing voters,” Woodbury said. “They swung in ‘24, they swung back in ‘25, but in 2026 they have the risk of swinging again.”
The researchers found that messages that emphasized the importance of fighting racism were most effective in mobilizing younger Black voters, and Woodbury said that candidates cannot reach them as effectively by focusing only on economic concerns.
“Black voters are rejecting that posture,” he said. “We gotta do both. We have to solve these economic concerns but also fight back against escalating racism.”