black voters

[Franzl]

As some of us were talking about how blacks split between Hillary and Obama during the primary differently depending on the state, I became interested in previous black voting behavior.

I was looking at the 2004 exit polls, and discovered that while overall, 11% of blacks voted for Bush, that they were much more strongly republican in rust belt states.

In Ohio and Pennsylvania, 16% of blacks voted for Bush, and in New Jersey, it was 17%

Any idea why blacks were so republican in this geographical area?

[Padfoot]

Maybe it has to do with the difference in ads being run there?  I imagine the GOP runs very few ads in the South but its runs lots of anti-abortion, anti-gay ads in a state like Ohio which could appeal to the staunch social conservatives in the African American community.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Black Republicans, such as they exist, tend to be Republicans because they're VERY socially conservative. The black vote in the Deep South is probably more democratic because democratic because of racially polarized voting patterns.

[Franzl]

I guess racial voting patterns can explian low republican support among blacks in the south, but I'm not really sure why exactly blacks in the rust belt area OH, PA, and New Jersey in addition would contain far more conservative blacks than in other northern states. Blacks in IL and NY can't be that much more liberal, can they?

[SingingAnalyst]

I don't believe there are any strong GOP leanings left in any Black community anywhere, including among social conservatives. In Detroit, Obama won 97.0% in 2008 and 97.6% in 2012. In south central LA, Obama won 99%+ while the ban on SSM got 70%.