How Black men will vote in the razor-close presidential race is one of the hottest topics of the 2024 election cycle. Local leaders are bringing the dialogue to Tampa Bay with a multimedia power panel of Black men, next Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
The in-person event starts at 6 pm with a meet & greet buffet at the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, and Zoom participants can at 6:30 pm.
To contribute to the discussion, the Power Broker magazine put together some quick facts on the unique voting patterns of Black men – the second largest male voting group in Pinellas County.
1. Black men registered to vote
An estimated 27,300 Black men are registered and eligible to vote in Pinellas (as of 8,31/2024). Black men are the county’s second largest male voting group.
27,323
Black men registered & able to vote
2. Men’s Share of the Black Electorate
Men were only 38% of African Americans who voted in the 2020 election, which is a lower ratio than men of other race & ethnic groups carry in their communities (hover over bars below for vote shares). This is because Black men have lower registration AND lower turnout rates, compared with Black women and other groups.
3. Men unable to vote due to prior felonies
An estimated 8,600 Black men in Pinellas County are disenfranchised and unable to vote due to a prior felony conviction. This includes an estimated 3,925 men who’ve completed their sentences but are still paying or still owe fees and fines to the criminal justice system.
8,610
Black men disenfranchised & unable to vote (est.)
4. Gender difference in turnout rate
Though Black men narrowed the turnout gap in the 2020 election, their turnout rate continues to lag Black women and other groups. In the 2020 election, 64% of registered Black men voted vs 73% of Black women (a 9% gap).
The Black male-female turnout gap is more than 4 times larger than the white gender gap (which was 2% in 2020, with 82% turnout by white women and 80% turnout by white men).
5. Big difference in turnout and gender gap by age
Across all race groups, young Americans tend to vote at lower rates than their elders. But the age difference is bigger for Black voters (e.g., in 2020, turnout for 18 to 24 year old Black men was close to half the turnout rate for Black men age 65+).
In addition, the Black gender gap is bigger for younger voters (e.g., we see an 11% gap in turnout for Black women vs men in the 18 to 24 age group, vs a gap of only 4% for Black voters who are 75+)
Figure 3: Black turnout rate in 2020, by age and gender
6. Gender difference in party learnings
CNN and Washington Post exit polls for Florida show that more Black men than Black women voted for Republican and third-party candidates in 2016 and 2020. In 2020 for example, 17% of Black men voted for Donald Trump or a third party candidate for president vs 9% of Black women.
Join us for A Candid Conversation on Why Black Men Do & Don’t Vote
Featuring a diverse panel of Black men from Florida’s Tampa Bay Region
HOSTED BY THE POWER OF THE VOTE COLLECTIVE
Sep 17, 2024 | A Hybrid Event
RSVP to join in person, starting at 6:00 pm
Register to join via Zoom, starting at 6:30 pm
Click here to download the report: 6 Facts On How Black Men Vote Pinellas County, Florida.
