New Poll: Biden and Democrats’ Approval Among Black Voters Slightly Rebounds. More Black Voter Attitudes on SCOTUS Nomination and Biden Agenda (BLACKtrack)

Washington, D.C. | March 14 – This month, President Joe Biden’s job performance approval numbers among all Black Voters registered at 76%, a slight increase compared to last month’s approval of 73%. Of those respondents over 50 years of age, Biden’s approval was reported at 87%, while his approval among respondents under 50 years of age was 68%. The data is from the latest BlackTrack, a monthly survey by HIT Strategies to track Black voters’ evolving attitudes on various national and political issues. HIT conducted March BlackTrack between February 19-24, 2022.

Taken before the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, the March BlackTrack asked survey participants several questions about the forthcoming Black female nominee. In the survey, only 31% of Black voters trust the Senate GOP to conduct a fair hearing. Black voters were split regarding the media’s treatment of Judge Jackson: a majority, 52%, trust the media to give Judge Jackson a fair shot; 42% distrust the media during this process. Also, we asked Black voters if an unfair confirmation process would make them more or less likely to vote in 2022: 54% said they would be more likely to vote, just 14% who reported they would be less likely to vote. 

“As President Biden navigates several high-profile issues, we are seeing a rebound in his approval among Black voters,” said Terrance Woodbury, a founding partner at HIT Strategies. “By continuing to defend his SCOTUS nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and making sure the COVID economic recovery continues to reach Black Americans, we could see those numbers go even higher.”

More Takeaways from March BlackTrack

• On questions of trust on the SCOTUS nomination, there were significant age splits among Black voters
  • 18% of Black voters over 50 trust Republicans compared to 41% of Black voters under 50
• Black women are more distrustful of the media to provide a Black nominee a fair hearing
  •  59% of Black men trust the media in this process
  • 47% of Black women trust the media in this process

Police and Law Enforcement 

• 39% of total respondents reported agreement with the state that police departments should be DEFUNDED
  •  This number is down from 53% of respondents in June of 2021
  •  This number includes 51% of voters under 50 and just 24% of voters over 50
• 73% of total respondents agreed that police departments should have resources directed to community services such as health care and schools
  •  This number is up from 67% of respondents in June 2021
  • This number includes 74% of voters under 50 and 71% of voters over 50 

Reproductive Rights

• Only 11% of Black voters believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances 
• 87% of Black voters personally support the right to an abortion and/or believe that government should not interfere with individual decision making on reproductive freedoms

What SHOULD be Joe Biden’s Top 3 Issue Priorities

• 38% COVID-19 Economic Recovery 
• 37% Inflation/Cost of Living 
• 32% Job Opportunities and Increased Wages 
• 28% Reducing Racism/Discrimination 
• 28% Spread of COVID-19 
• 25% Crime and Violence

Combatting Racism

• 73% of Black voters prefer a candidate who is vocal about combatting racism as a top priority rather than a candidate who simply acknowledges it, but prioritizes other issues
  • This is a slight increase from 70% last month 
  • This number is higher for older Black voters: 80% of Black voters over 50 preferred the candidate who is vocal about combatting racism compared to 68% of Black voters under 50

Economic Well-Being

• The number of voters who reported that “inflation or cost of living” SHOULD be one of President Biden’s top 3 priorities increased from 28% to 37% last month
• The number of voters who reported that “inflation or cost of living” IS one of President Biden’s top 3 priorities increased from 19% to 26% last month

This BlackTrack survey was fielded from February 19-24, 2022, conducted via an online opt-in panel, with a margin of error of +/-3.9% at a 95% confidence level. The information above represents selected data from the BlackTrack survey. Find more March BlackTrack analysis via the dashboard here.

About BlackTrack
Blacktrack is HIT Strategies’ recurring monthly national survey of 1,000 Black voters ages 18+ on current social and political issues. BlackTrack tracks Black Americans’ opinions and disaggregates the data into demographic groups to understand Black voters’ full diversity. A majority of BlackTrack data is proprietary and available for subscribers. For more information on previous data or to subscribe, go to hitstrat.com/blacktrack.

About HIT Strategies
As the only millennial and minority-owned public opinion research company, HIT Strategies maintains an unmatched cultural competence in understanding and communicating to young audiences and diverse communities like millennials, GenZ, LGBTQ+ Black Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.  We help our clients translate their target audience’s values, attitudes, and behaviors into real-time insights and messaging. For more information, visit hitstrat.com and follow us on social media @HITStrat.   

---