Politics

Black women voters’ top issue shouldn’t surprise anyone

Published

2 years ago

November 12, 2024

Black women voters’ top issue shouldn’t surprise anyone

Over the past few weeks, BLN legal analyst Melissa Murray and I traveled across the country to explore what Black women from the cities to the suburbs are thinking about in the upcoming election. In every conversation, the economy came up as their top concern. They want to know the person they support has a plan to address their needs.

In this election, Vice President Kamala Harris is the only candidate who fits that bill.

On Wednesday, the vice president detailed her economic agenda with a speech and an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in Pittsburgh. From a campaign perspective, she hit all the marks one would want from a candidate in appearances like these. She was personable. Though she rarely speaks publicly about caring for her mother after her cancer diagnosis, she went into details that anyone who has had to care for a loved one could identify with.

This level of accessibility is crucial and could make a difference among undecided voters.

Importantly, Harris also spoke in great detail about her plans, but one didn’t need to be an economist to follow the conversation. Her explanation of how her plan to provide $25,000 in down-payment assistance to first-time homeowners would serve as a path forward to build intergenerational wealth was reasonable. When she spoke of her plan to boost a tax deduction for small businesses to $50,000, she made the connection to how that helps startups get off the ground. This level of accessibility is crucial and could make a difference among undecided voters.

In Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Melissa and I spoke with a young voter named Clarke who just finished her master’s degree. She told us that out of 20 classmates, just four were able to land jobs after graduation and that many young people are at a moment when they are being crushed by inflation. Voters like Clarke understand the stakes in this election and are searching for real solutions to ease their economic pain.

Blue Bell is an affluent suburb of Philadelphia that both presidential candidates have targeted. Democrats have made gains there, netting 40,000 more votes in 2020 than they did in 2016 — a big reason Joe Biden carried the state in the last election. This is a suburb where the margins will matter, and how Black voters and younger voters overall show up to the polls could determine not only the winner of the state, but possibly the entire election.

On the campaign trail, Harris has been building the framework to help voters like Clarke. Harris calls it her “opportunity economy.” Notably, she doesn’t just say the phrase; she explains what it means for people in their lives. Her plan is to increase financial security for all Americans, no matter their backgrounds. In her speech this week to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, Harris focused on growing America’s workforce. She connected her vision to her own middle-class upbringingeffortlessly delivering her plans for practical goals that would push America into a brighter tomorrow.

While Harris laid out her economic policies, she also didn’t miss an opportunity to needle her opponent. During her BLN interview, Harris said former President Donald Trump is “just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. And one must be serious and have a plan, and a real plan, that’s not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally.”

The small-government conservatives where I grew up in Nebraska will tell you that isn’t likely to work.

Harris and Trump have very different visions of how to run the most powerful economy in the world. Frankly, when it comes to Trump’s economic vision, it isn’t hard to flush out. He is, as The New York Times’ Jim Tankersley puts it, using a “hammer and bullhorn” approach. He wants to force companies to lower prices, without a clear understanding of how the markets work, and then somehow tariff his way to economic prosperity. The small-government conservatives where I grew up in Nebraska will tell you that isn’t likely to work.

Trump’s economic pitch is so disconnected from reality that even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blasted Trump’s tariff proposals as a price hike for American consumers.

Earlier this month, Trump was asked what he would do to tackle the high cost of child care. His response was an incoherent rant about tariffs on China — a nonsensical answer that didn’t list a single solution. He has shown to voters he doesn’t understand the realities of child care in America, one of the biggest costs for families. In contrast, Harris’ plan is clear and simple to understand: Expand the child tax credit.

And we all know Trump doesn’t have a plan to lower costs of health care. Instead, he claims to have a concept of a plan. Dii, a North Carolina voter Melissa and I spoke with in Washington, D.C., said a plan for affordable health care will be on her mind when she casts her ballot. Voters are paying attention.

I think voters tend to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt on the economy because for years they have just claimed to be better, although they were never good at backing it up with actual policy. This November, unspecified “concepts” just won’t cut it with Black women.

Harris and Trump aren’t the only candidates on the ballot this November. Eleven states will select new governors, control of the U.S. Senate is on the line, and every member of the U.S. House of Representatives is up for re-election. For candidates up and down the ballot, strong turnout from Black women could make the difference in victory or defeat.

Black women are often spoken of as the backbone of the Democratic Party. They are definitely consistent when it comes to showing up to vote, but their vote isn’t owned by one political party. It needs to be earned. And for Black women concerned about the economy, Harris has done a lot to earn it.

“Black Women in America: The Road to 2024” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on BLN. It will be available to stream on Peacock the following day.

Symone D. Sanders-Townsend

Symone D. Sanders-Townsend is an author and a co-host of “The Weekend,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays at 8 a.m. ET on BLN. She is a former deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and a former senior adviser to and chief spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Politics

Dems pick South Carolina to lead 2028 primary calendar

Published

33 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats voted to make South Carolina their first presidential primary state for 2028 — a significant shift from past election cycles, and one that prioritizes a state with a significant Black voting bloc.

The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted Friday to make the Palmetto State the first contest in the 2028 primary calendar.

The decision to choose South Carolina over Nevada, another historic early state in contention for first place, came down in part to concerns about Nevada’s ability to process election results quickly. Democrats said they were also looking to strengthen Black voting power in the South after the Supreme Court significantly restricted the Voting Rights Act earlier this year, which triggered redistricting efforts.

Michigan bested Iowa in the vote to be the Midwest’s early state, meaning Iowa will not be an early state in 2028 after leading the calendar for decades through 2020. New Hampshire, which has gone second on the nominating calendar in most past cycles, finished a distant third in voting to be Democrats’ first primary state.

Politics

Poll: Republicans’ gas price problem is even worse than it seems

Published

6 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Gas prices are high. Americans think they’re even higher.

Three in five Americans believe gas prices in their area have risen by more than they actually have, according to an analysis of new results from The Blue Light News Poll. It’s those perceptions that candidates will be running against this fall.

Voters’ anxieties about fuel prices could give Democrats a boost ahead of the midterms, further strengthening the Democratic voting base and putting strains on the MAGA coalition as the increasingly unpopular war in Iran drags on. A plurality of Americans — 46 percent — say the change in gas prices will impact how they plan to vote come November.

Most voters overestimated the change in gas prices in their area, according to the analysis of polling and granular pricing data provided by OPIS, a Dow Jones company that tracks gas prices. That includes majorities of voters who supported President Donald Trump and also those who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Roughly one in four Americans say gas in their local area has risen by $3.00 or more. But no zip code has actually seen that degree of change on average in the year and a half since Trump took office, as of early July.

Frustrations over cost of living could be reinforcing existing negative views of the Trump administration: Harris voters are far more likely to overshoot the cost jumps than Trump voters, making it harder for Republicans to peel off Democratic voters.

And the analysis shows a fracture among Trump voters. Self-identified MAGA Republicans were more likely to underestimate cost increases than non-MAGA Republicans — another crack in the president’s winning coalition as Republicans scramble to hold it together for the midterms.

“It is a particularly tough dance that many Republican candidates will have to endure for the next three months,” said Arizona GOP strategist Barrett Marson. “How do you feel the pain of your voters without feeling the wrath of Donald Trump?”

What’s more, American’s perceptions do not quickly change even when prices do. The Blue Light News Poll asked about gas prices in both May, when they were near their peak, and July, when they had dipped.

The results were the same in both.

“President Trump and his energy team anticipated these temporary market disruptions, communicated them openly to the American people, and implemented an aggressive plan to mitigate any impacts,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers. “As the U.S. military degrades the terrorist Iranian regime’s ability to attack commercial vessels and disrupt the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz, oil and gas prices will plummet back to pre-conflict levels.”

Gas prices could swing votes

Americans’ frustrations with prices and the economy overall are changing how they say they will vote in the fall.

Of the 46 percent of Americans who said gas prices will have an impact on their vote, just under 40 percent said they are considering voting for a different party than they normally would, including 49 percent of MAGA Republicans and 57 percent of non-MAGA Republicans.

“Three quarters of the country is confronting higher gas prices and feeling it,” said longtime Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson. “That leaves them … very vulnerable to the economic pain and very vulnerable to the economic argument the Democrats are going to make.”

To better understand public perception of gas prices, The Blue Light News Poll asked Americans how the price of gas in their area had changed since Trump took office. Respondents could choose between buckets like “$1 to $2 higher per gallon,” “$1 to $2 lower per gallon,” or say prices had stayed roughly the same.

More than three-fourths said gas prices in their area have gone up.

Using OPIS data, Blue Light News compared each respondent’s answer against the actual average cost of regular gas in their zip code during the first week Trump was in office and the week prior to the July poll, which was conducted by the independent polling organization Public First from July 12 to July 15.

That comparison revealed the difference between the pain the American public is feeling and where actual gas prices stand — and, in particular, how that pain is expressed differently among Democrats and Republicans. Roughly 70 percent of Harris voters and 54 percent of Trump voters overestimated the increase in gas prices in their area, according to Blue Light News’s analysis.

“Democrats are highly motivated,” as a voting base, Marson said. “The longer the war goes on, probably the less motivated Republicans will be.”

The perception of higher gas prices is linked to how people see the economy — and who they blame for it.

Across the country, 57 percent of Americans say the cost of living is worse than they “can ever remember it being.” Those who overestimate gas price increases had more than twice the odds of agreeing with that statement, even after controlling for demographics and their 2024 vote.

Similarly, a plurality of Americans — 43 percent — blame Trump more than former President Joe Biden for the state of the economy overall. Those who overestimated their local increase in gas prices had nearly twice the odds of saying the same, compared with those who perceived the change in gas prices correctly or who underestimated the change.

It’s already affecting the battlegrounds

In the country’s most competitive races, Republicans will have to answer for the perceived cost pressures of rising gas prices more often than Democrats.

Thirteen of the most competitive districts have experienced gas price increases higher than the national average, according to Blue Light News’s analysis. Of those, nine are currently represented by Republicans.

In California’s 22nd District, where Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao will face off against progressive political newcomer Randy Villegas, average prices across the district had gone up $1.17 by early July — the third highest increase of any district, according to Blue Light News’s analysis.

Villegas said in an interview that he thought frustration over gas prices would mobilize turnout in the fall, driven by how the cost of gas is “tied to every other thing.”

“It’s the cost of gas when you’re driving to the grocery store, when you’re driving to, you know, see a doctor,” he said. Or, the cost of gas when driving 7 to 8 hours away to “go get cheaper health care.”

Valadao did not respond to requests for comment.

In Colorado’s 8th District, where gas prices have risen by $0.73 on average since Trump took office, Republican incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans blamed local Democratic policies for increased costs more than the Iran war.

While “what’s happening halfway around the globe has some impact on global energy prices,” Evans said, high gas prices in the district are “a direct result of the local economic policies — the anti-energy policies — of the state Democrats who run the state of Colorado.”

But The Blue Light News Poll results from this month show voters don’t necessarily feel the same. Roughly 63 percent of Americans selected “the war with Iran” as the primary reason why gas prices have increased since Trump took office, including 59 percent of Trump voters and 70 percent of Harris voters.

By the middle of May, the average price of gas across the country reached its highest point of the Trump administration to date: $4.50 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In July, average prices dipped to $3.78 per gallon, the lowest average price since March.

Still, in both months, more than 75 percent of Americans said gas prices had gone up, Blue Light News’s polls show. And in both months, roughly 23 percent said prices had gone up by $3.00 or more.

This week, Trump said the upcoming midterms would not impact how he goes about fighting the war with Iran. “I can’t think about that having to do with this,” he said, referring to the elections. “I think people are very impressed.”

Politics

Capitol agenda: House GOP budget faces Senate reality check

Published

14 hours ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Capitol agenda: House GOP budget faces Senate reality check

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been frank about the rocky road the reconciliation effort faces and careful not to guarantee he’ll be successful…
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