A few weeks after President Biden’s poor debate performance, the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party hosted a cookout to reach out to Black voters. Alandis Pratt expressed what was on the minds of many in the crowd.
“Regardless of age, I hope that’s not going to deter people from coming out, voting, and standing behind the person who’s been in place for the last four years,” Pratt said.
But now with Biden out of the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris is emerging as the likely presidential Democratic nominee.
Publicist Jelani Hill heard from many people last week.
“I’ve got text messages of folks trying to get on phone calls to rally folks to do everything they can from fundraising to supporting Vice President Harris in any way they can,” Hill said.
Getting Black voters to cast ballots in November is critical for Democrats hoping to turn the state blue in this year’s presidential race. Mecklenburg County has the highest number of registered Black voters in North Carolina. The county’s voter turnout is also lower than the rest of the state. The hope is that a ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top will reinvigorate many sitting out past elections.
Hill was among several voters WFAE spoke with along Beatties Ford Road in northwest Charlotte last week who are excited about Harris's candidacy. Hill votes regularly and said many Black voters, especially women, are backing Harris.
“Black women see themselves in her,” Hill said. “They see someone who has gone to an HBCU, they see someone who is successful, hardworking, and qualified for the job.”
Marchelle Alexander is one of those voters keen to see Harris elected.
“I think that would be a great thing because she’s did her diligence in that White House and for the people,” Alexander said.
The aim for Democrats is to turn excitement into votes. That’s a particular challenge in Mecklenburg County where voter turnout lags the rest of the state. Seventy-five percent of registered voters in North Carolina cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. In Mecklenburg County — the county with the state’s largest numbers of Democratic and Black voters — it was 72%.
What was until last week, known as the Biden-Harris campaign is out trying to boost those numbers.
Ashley Hampton, the campaign's regional organizer, and some volunteers canvassed the Washington Heights neighborhood just off Beatties Ford Rd last week.
“We do not have Harris literature yet,” Hampton explained. "They haven’t had time to print the Harris literature, so we're going off with what we have.”
The campaign expects to have about 200 people on its books across the state by the end of this week. They say they’re focusing on organizing in Black communities like this one throughout North Carolina.
Hampton and a volunteer approach Norman Hemphill.
"Hi, sir. How are you?"
"I ain't voting," Hemphill abruptly responded.
Hemphill doesn’t believe a Black candidate at the top of the ticket will lead to more people showing up for Democrats at the polls this year. And there is some evidence of that: In 2022, Mecklenburg County’s turnout was among the lowest in North Carolina. That year the Democratic ticket was led by U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley, a Black woman. He says President Barack Obama’s candidacy was different.
“That was the last time it energized the Black vote, and look what we got from Obama," Hemphill said. "So, I don’t think people are that enthusiastic about what’s going on.”
More Black voters turning to Trump is another challenge Democrats face. As was the case in many cities in 2020, Trump did better in precincts in largely Black neighborhoods in Charlotte. There’s been a slight shift in the precinct that covers Washington Heights. In 2016, the precinct had 27 voters cast ballots for Trump. In 2020, Trump received 40 votes there. National polling before Biden dropped out suggests Republicans will attract larger numbers of Black voters this year.
Juanrique Hall plans to switch his registration to Republican. He’s a Black and Latino Democrat who ran twice for Charlotte Mecklenburg School board.
“Kamala Harris could not represent me as a Black male well at all,” Hall said.
Hall was one of a few Black voters who attended Trump’s campaign rally in Charlotte last week. He said he’s unsure if he’ll vote for Trump but definitely won’t vote for the vice president. He declined to specify which of her policies he disagrees with, but he said he likes Trump’s position on gender identity.
“I don’t want my child, a little boy, to be able to go to the bathroom with my daughter. I don’t want a teacher to be up and stand in front of a classroom, and it’s a man and he goes by Miss,” Hall said.
Harris emphasized her experience as a prosecutor in her first presidential bid in 2020. She's highlighting that again now. On Beatties Ford Road, Patrick Hearns said he initially had concerns about Harris's time in law enforcement. He's a plumber who just moved from Florida.
“I was a little bit against Ms. Harris as vice president because of my background,” Hearns said. “I’m from the streets, so those things kind of conflicted with me a little bit.”
Despite that, he says a Black woman president is something he’d definitely like to see, and if the vice president is on the ballot, he plans to vote for her.
