A new poll found that a majority of Black voters approve of President Biden’s job performance and think he should run for reelection in 2024.
The first BlackTrack survey from HIT Strategies since the 2022 midterm elections found that 59 percent of Black voters say Biden should run for president in 2024, while 74 percent approve of his job performance.
These numbers come before Biden has announced his plans for 2024 and ahead of his second State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Biden’s approval spans across generational lines, with 66 percent of Black voters aged 50 and older wanting the president to run for a second term, while 55 percent of voters under 50 agree.
The poll also found that 51 percent of Black voters identified inflation and cost of living as their top concern, something Biden is sure to address in his speech on Tuesday night. Thirty-seven percent of voters identified racism and discrimination as the second most important issues, while gun violence came in third at 32 percent.
Jobs, the economy and health care rounded out the top five issues for Black voters.
Black voters consistently identified these issues as their top concerns in polls conducted before the 2022 midterms.
But as these concerns remain at the top of Black voters’ minds, they have also reported having a strong favorability for Democrats addressing these issues.
Forty-nine percent of Black men and 50 percent of Black women said the Democratic Party is making progress on issues affecting Black voters, while 64 percent had an unfavorable rating for Republicans.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the first Black American to lead either party in Congress, has a 34 percent favorable rating among voters, while House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has a 17 percent favorable rating.
Forty-five percent of Black voters who responded said they think 2023 will see increased political division, and 44 percent believe political violence will increase this year.
The BlackTrack survey was fielded through an online panel between Jan. 13 and Jan. 16 with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
—Updated at 3:50 p.m.