Black voters remain energized over Harris ahead of November, despite lukewarm perceptions of Biden

With the November elections less than two months away, non-Hispanic Black voters are overwhelmingly rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris, despite their previous lukewarm support of President Joe Biden, new Washington Post-Ipsos poll shows.

The new poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,083 non-Hispanic Black adults in the U.S. ages 18 and over. The study comprised surveys and interviews, which were conducted both in English and Spanish.

The study found voter enthusiasm among Black adults to have rebounded since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, with 69% of respondents saying they are "absolutely certain to vote" in November, up from 62% in April, but still lower than 74% in June 2020.

Likewise, among Black registered voters, 83% say they will "definitely" or "probably" vote for Harris this November, up from 74% who said they would support Biden in April.

"She's a woman, she's Black and I like her," Avalon Broaden, a voter from Omaha, Nebraska, who felt unmotivated to vote in these elections until Harris came into the picture. "I genuinely think that means something for this country. I'd rather vote for something I strongly believe in rather than voting in spite of something."

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump's number among the demographic remains dramatically low.

The share of Black voters saying they would definitely or probably vote for Trump (12%) has barely shifted from April, when 14% said they would support him in November, though that is still slightly higher than he received in 2020.

Black voters' enthusiasm over Harris is also reflected in their trust on her to handle important issues.

She currently holds a 59-point margin over Trump on trust to protect American democracy among Black Americans. By comparison, voters of all races trust Harris to handle this issue by a five percentage point margin, according to the latest poll from The New York Times/Siena College.

The issue Black Americans trust Harris the most with is abortion, which stands at a 72% support, compared to Trump's 9%. New York Times' poll of overall voters also show Harris leading in reproductive rights, at 54% to 39%.

However, immigration and the war between Israel and Hamas are the two topics voters tend to trust her the least.

Among Black Americans, Harris still holds a wide margin, with 55% of voters trusting her to lead immigration, compared to 19% who say the same about Trump, and 18% saying neither. In The New York Times poll, 53% of voters trust Trump to handle immigration, while 43% trust Harris to do the same. Regarding the war, 49% of Black voters trust Harris to handle it, while 13% trust Trump to do so.