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A shift among young North Carolina voters of color is energizing the Democratic base since Vice President Kamala Harris secured the party’s nomination, according to poll results released Thursday by North Carolina Asian Americans Together.
It’s a “major turnaround” in voter sentiment and a notable change from when President Joe Biden was at the top of the ticket, according to the survey. The shift has helped put North Carolina back into play as a battleground state in the battle for the White House.
The poll finds that 64 percent of “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, people of color) youth respondents say they will be voting for Harris, compared to 19 percent for former President Donald Trump (a 45-point gap). Seven percent said they were unsure, and the other 10 percent was divided between candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jill Stein and Chase Oliver.
“The enthusiasm gap among BIPOC youth voters we observed earlier in the year has not just closed — it has reversed dramatically in favor of Vice President Harris,” Su Cho, NCAAT head of data management, said. “We’re turning this surge of enthusiasm into informed action, ensuring that BIPOC youth not only understand the significance of their vote but are empowered to participate fully in the democratic process.”
There are 823,209 young, registered voters (between the ages of 18 and 35) in North Carolina who are Black, Indigenous and people of color, according to NCAAT.
Trump narrowly won the Tar Heel State by 1.3 percent in 2020. North Carolina has 16 electoral votes this year, an increase of one vote from the previous presidential contest.
The poll found that Harris’ entry into the race has spurred enthusiasm among young voters of color. In the survey, 63 percent of respondents said they are more motivated to vote this year since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Poll respondents said their most important priorities for Congress to address are the cost of living and inflation, restoring reproductive health rights, and the economy and jobs.
At the state level, respondents expressed a desire for more action from elected leaders to tackle the cost of living, the cost of rent and housing, and to protect abortion rights.
When it comes to their view of state politicians, respondents leaned sharply Democratic as well. Respondents were mostly favorable toward Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, with 53 percent holding a favorable view and only 15 percent unfavorable. Twenty-one percent were “neutral” and 12 percent were unsure of who he is.
Among the candidates in this year’s gubernatorial race, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was found to be better known by poll respondents than Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, but Robinson’s “negatives” were much higher.
Nearly half of the respondents (47 percent) expressed an unfavorable view of Robinson, while only seven percent held a favorable view. Twenty-seven percent of respondents could not identify Robinson and 19 percent were neutral.
While Stein was unknown to 33 percent of respondents, the survey found that 29 percent held a favorable view, 27 percent were neutral and only 11 percent expressed an unfavorable view.
Z to A Research conducted the poll on behalf of NCAAT by surveying 620 registered voters of color under the age of 35 in North Carolina from July 30 to Aug. 6. There is a margin of error of 3.94 percentage points.