This week, “The Hill with April Ryan” catches up with Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury, founder of the polling firm HIT Strategies and a surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Woodbury tells theGrio that the economy is the number one issue for American voters. Among Black voters, in particular, Woodbury says the general sentiment is that “costs are too damn high.”
The numbers cruncher clarifies that Black Americans’ concerns about the economy go beyond inflation. People want to “reduce costs” in other areas, too. Woodbury notes that the cost of medicine, such as the price of insulin and student debt forgiveness, is a key focus for the Harris-Walz campaign. He added that the Harris economic plan also seeks to “increase Black wealth” and “reduce the wealth gap” between Black and White Americans.
Depending on the poll, the economy is either the voters’ top or second issue this election cycle. A recent NAACP survey found that over half of Black voters say the highest priority for elected leaders should be protecting rights and freedoms (53%), compared to addressing economic concerns (40%) and other issues (7%).
In another poll of more than 200,000 Black voters conducted in 2023 and released in 2024, the economy was the largest concern with a particular emphasis on low wages and not being enough to sustain a family. Meanwhile, Pew Research says that 81% of registered voters, eight in ten, say the economy will be very important to their vote in the 2024 presidential election.
The Harris-Walz campaign’s agenda to create an “opportunity economy” also focuses on small businesses, which are a large driver of the economy, and homeownership. Black homeownership numbers have reverted to rates in 1968 when the Fair Housing Act was passed. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has yet to articulate his economic program for Black America, though he oversaw a decline in Black unemployment numbers while president.
Watch the full discussion with Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury above.
