Polls show Black men could be breaking from Abrams

(NewsNation) — With the Georgia Governor election just weeks away in November, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams has struggled to gain growth on incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp, poll numbers show.

A big reason is the demographic of Black male voters.

A September poll conducted by the University of Georgia for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows that 74% of Black men said they planned to vote for Abrams, compared with 82% of Black women.

It’s why supporters of the Democratic candidate have been out working to get the vote out with Black voters ahead of Election Day.

“It’s critically important: Blacks make up about 30% of the voters in Georgia and if Blacks turn out, they will really determine the outcome of this election,” Reginald Jackson, Bishop of the AME Church in Georgia,” said speaking on NewsNation’s “Rush Hour” Wednesday.

The poll results are indicative to a shift among Black voters in recent years moving towards the Republican Party, as about one in five Black men voted for Donald Trump in 2020 — up from 2016.

Republicans in Georgia are seizing on the opportunity, opening a new Black community center in College Park — an Atlanta suburb — which they say is trending Republican among members of the Black community.

According to some Black Republicans, it has a lot to do with the economy.

“A lot of the people that come to our center interestingly enough are business owners,m so I think we definitely have inroads to make with Black voters because they can see it first hand from the COVID shutdowns all the way to how it’s impacting their businesses,” Avion Abreu, a volunteer at the Republican National Committee Black Community Center, said to “Rush Hour.”

The shift has given Kemp an edge. The Governor now has a five point lead, in a recent Emerson College Poll and The Hill survey taken just last week.

At a rally for the Democratic Senate Candidate, incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock will be working to gain support from another crucial voting block — Latino voters, which Republicans have also been trying to sway.