Moments after MS Now declared Keisha Lance Bottoms the winner of Georgia’s race for governor on Nov. 3, singer and actor Tyrese Gibson felt compelled to clear the air about a common myth.
“There’s this idea that’s been floating around for years that Black men don’t stand with Black women in politics,” the star of the Fast & Furious and Transformers movie franchises said during Bottoms’ election night watch party at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.
“For all of the Black men in the building that showed up and voted for this Black woman, make some noise one time,” Gibson continued as men in the crowd cheered. “And for all the ladies who voted for this powerful Black woman, make some noise one time!” he added.
Historically, Black men are among the most infrequent voting demographics, but they’re also among the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting blocs, second only to Black women.
Black voter mobilization activists credit an increase in Black male voting on Nov. 3 with helping eight Black female candidates make history.
The secretary of state’s office reports a surge in overall Black voter participation with helping Georgia set a midterm election turnout record. More than 4.2 million people cast ballots in this year’s election, up from about 3.9 million in 2022.
The exact number of Black men who voted in this election hasn’t been confirmed yet, but NBC News exit polling data shows they made up a slightly larger share (12%) of this year’s turnout than they did during 2022 (11%).
The increase was enough to make Bottoms the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. Bottoms received 89% of the Black male vote, while her opponent gained just 10%, according to NBC.
For comparison, Stacey Abrams received 84% of votes from Black men during the 2022 governor’s race, when her GOP rival, Gov. Brian Kemp, gained 14%, according to NBC.
“[Bottoms] almost got to 90%,” voter mobilization activist and civil rights attorney Gerald Griggs said of this year’s Black male vote. “That shows that Black men are definitely clued in politically.”
The higher cost of living in Georgia was a major motivating factor for Black men heading to the polls this year, according to Griggs, who hosted listening sessions and town halls across the state throughout the year.
“The first thing that was most important was affordability,” he said. “We have an affordability crisis, rent and mortgage prices through the roof.”
Griggs credited an increased focus on Black men this cycle with getting them to the polls. Bottoms and other Democrats hosted multiple events and addresses aimed at engaging Black male voters this year and last year.
John Taylor is the founding co-chair of the Black Male Initiative Georgia, a nonprofit that does voter engagement and mobilization work with Black men across the Peach State. He said his group of volunteers and staffers saw an 8% to 10% rise from 2022 in the number of Black men who committed to voting in this year’s election during door-to-door canvassing efforts.
Taylor credits the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s policies with pushing more Black men to the polls — from the war with Iran and tariffs driving up grocery and fuel costs to cuts to social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Housing and Urban Development rental assistance.
“Gas is too high, utilities too high, rent too high, I can’t afford groceries,” Taylor said regarding feedback his group has received from Black men across Georgia. “Life is squeezing me and y’all keep saying these folks that were in power were screwing it up. … The money isn’t there. It didn’t get better for our communities.
Atlanta resident Will Nevels cited cost of housing concerns as his major reason for participating in this year’s election. Nevels spoke with Capital B Atlanta outside the city’s Mechanicville Branch Library. He was one of several Black men who expressed excitement about voting for Bottoms on Nov. 3.
“We had President Obama, the first Black man [president], so why not?” Nevels said. “[it’s] time for a Black woman.”
In addition to Bottoms, seven other Black women were elected to statewide offices. Penny Brown Reynolds will become Georgia’s first Black secretary of state. Tanya Miller will be inaugurated as the state’s first Black woman attorney general. Keisha Sean Waites won the race to become Georgia’s first Black insurance commissioner.
Farming nonprofit leader Katherine Juhan-Arnold will become the state’s next commissioner of agriculture after beating incumbent Tyler J. Harper. Educator Lydia Powell will take office in January as the first Black woman state school superintendent, and Nikki Porcher won the race to become the state’s first Black woman labor commissioner.
Taylor said he hopes the results of this year’s election will dispel the myth that Black men don’t support Black women, but he doesn’t think it will. He pointed to the deluge of post-election articles crediting Black women organizers for delivering the Nov. 3 blue tsunami.
“I’ve not seen one about the brothas,” he said. “There’s a narrative around misogyny and misandry that keeps getting pumped into our communities. I wish for the life of me we could dispel this myth once and for all.”
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