A new poll shows Black women overwhelming anticipate the 2022 midterm elections, and have cited housing and food costs as the issue they care about most. The poll also revealed that the key voting bloc are most concerned about reproductive rights and crime.
Seventy-six percent of Black women said they were “extremely worried” about the rising cost of living, specifically rent and housing, groceries, gas and affordable health care. While pocketbook issues ranked as the top two concerns, 21 percent said reproductive rights were of most concern, followed by increased rates in crime.
“A multitude of issues are of deep concern to our community, from the rising cost of housing and other basic goods to restrictions on abortion access, to threats to honest education for our children,” Glynda Carr, president and CEO of Higher Heights, told NBC News. “Black women are not single-issue voters — we sit at the intersection of the most pressing issues facing our nation.”
When asked to share how they feel about being a Black woman in America, responses were mixed. Most expressed optimism about advancements Black women have made but also conveyed frustration about how Black women are disproportionately treated.
Higher Heights Leadership Fund and Higher Heights for America PAC, a political action committee that works to elect Black progressive women nationwide commissioned the survey which was conducted by Change Research. The San Francisco-based polling firm surveyed over 715 Black women voters, who revealed in the survey that they believed Black women in politics were “underrepresented.” More than two-thirds of the women surveyed said they were more motivated to vote than ever before.
Next month’s midterms will be pivotal in determining which party will control Congress and statehouses across the nation. The ruling party will make it either easier or harder to pass legislations in healthcare, voting rights, education, and jobs among other key issues facing voters.
Black voters have come to the polls in record numbers in recent years and is projected to reach 32.7 million by November, according to a Pew Research Center report. Black women represent more than half of all Black eligible voters.
