MILWAUKEE — Across battleground Wisconsin, the Biden-Harris campaign is showing up in Black communities early and often as part of a strategy it hopes will pay off in November.
One of the biggest is Milwaukee, where, for the first time in 20 years, the Democratic Coordinated HQ is located, showcasing the importance of a key constituency.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson plans to stay busy between now and November.
“There’s this incredible story to tell about what President Joe Biden, what Vice President Kamala Harris, has done for Black people, the Black community, not just here in Milwaukee but around Wisconsin,” Johnson said.
Johnson plans to do everything he can, personally and professionally, to show why he believes President Joe Biden deserves another four years.
“The investments that his administration is making here helps us to address issues around public safety,” Johnson explained. “The investments that he’s making here helps us to make sure more people have access to housing and affordable housing.”
Though Black voters tend to generally back Democrats, former President Donald Trump has gained some ground.
Nationally, Trump won 6% of Black voters in 2016, compared to about 8% in 2020.
“I think that increase is because of a number of different factors, but what I can tell you though is that if Donald Trump thinks that Black people, and Black men in particular, are going to put him over the top to make him president again, he’s sorely wrong,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to go, as Black people in the United States, from slavery to somebody who said he would be a dictator.”
With such a big effort made within Black communities early on, Johnson said he isn’t worried as more than 50 black leaders, both past and present, have backed Biden from all across the state.
“Birds of a feather, they tend to flock together, and Joe Biden and the support he will get from Black people, from Black elected officials, current and former, across the United States just goes to show about his commitments to Black people not just here in Milwaukee but across the United States,” Johnson added.
Organizers, however, said who those messages come from matters.
“It’s one thing for myself as a staff member to say, ‘Hey, you should vote for Joe Biden,’ but your mom explaining how Joe Biden’s presidency has impacted them, whether it’s resources, whether it’s health insurance, it goes a long way, and so that connection is what we’re trying to bring home,” Jaliah Jefferson, an organizer for the Biden-Harris campaign, said.
Jefferson shared that message on the streets during Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration recently.
“Here in Wisconsin, where things come down to a few votes per ward, talking to every single voter, no matter their race, to be quite honest, is going to be key; informing them on the issues and getting them out to vote,” Jefferson added.
An analysis by a research fellow at Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research found in Black majority wards across Milwaukee, support has slipped by an average of almost 2% for Biden in 2020 compared to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“I think that for so long, people have made the mistake of just trying to get people out to vote without actually telling the story,” former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who currently serves as president of Power to the Polls Wisconsin, said. “People have felt like they are only contacted or only asked how they are doing, only asked about their experience during an election time.”
Barnes has focused on community engagement with those who typically don’t show up to the polls but otherwise would if they knew casting a ballot could actually lead to change.
“Get out the vote, get out the vote, get out the vote—well, sure, there’s a place for it, but at the same time, people have been dealing with this election cycle after election cycle, and it leads to them losing trust in the process because then it’s like, ‘Okay, what did my vote get me? What’s the point of me showing up again,’” Barnes explained.
The answer to those questions could be organizers having conversations in the communities where they live, which is something Barnes hopes will not only inform, but put things into perspective for voters.
“Just because the person they voted for got elected, they shouldn’t just assume that the right thing is going to happen,” Barnes said. “They should also hold them accountable. Or, if the person they don’t want to win happens to get into office, they shouldn’t just step away and check out of the process. They should become even more engaged to push for positive change.”