Brian Harris wants his elected officials to focus on what he calls the “agenda of the people” — topics that include wealth inequality and home ownership. The 63-year-old Henderson resident is particularly passionate about protecting Social Security and diminishing the power of American corporations — key Democratic priorities — but said he does not feel that he belongs to a single party.

Harris, who is Black, is exactly the kind of Nevada voter that President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign wants to engage early and often this election cycle. He was among the attendees at a North Las Vegas church breakfast late last month that heard from Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana congressman and co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign. 

Richmond spent most of his 15-minute speech at the Shepherd’s Breakfast — a monthly community breakfast at a North Las Vegas church — touting the Biden administration’s accomplishments on programs to support Black business owners and lift Black children out of poverty — kitchen table issues that Harris said had been overshadowed by the campaign’s focus on issues such as abortion access.

“We don’t hear as much about these kinds of things that are being done,” Harris said. “They have done a good job, but I don’t think it’s been articulated.”

Richmond, who also led a roundtable with young Black leaders that day, made the rounds in Southern Nevada as the Biden campaign ramps up its efforts in Nevada and around the country to court Black voters such as Harris. Five Black voters who spoke to The Nevada Independent at those events all said they supported Biden’s re-election bid but with varying levels of enthusiasm.

In Nevada, Biden’s campaign has made reaching out to Black voters an early priority. The president held a pre-presidential primary rally in Las Vegas’ Historic Westside — a neighborhood home to primarily Black and Hispanic residents. The campaign also launched a $25 million advertising campaign in swing states, including Nevada, to engage Black and Hispanic voters, and participated in several Black History Month events across the state.

Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University who researches African American politics, said the campaign’s bigger concern should be Black voters staying at home, especially because of their overwhelming Democratic lean and Nevada’s status as a battleground state.

“You can't just do passive activity, you can't rely on a media campaign,” Gillespie said. “You’re gonna have to ask people to turn out to vote, and you're gonna have to answer and listen to their concerns and their objections.”

The polling

Maintaining the support of Black voters — 92 percent of them supported Biden in 2020 — is critical to the president’s chances for re-election, but polls have consistently shown that the key voting bloc is much less enthusiastic about Biden than four years ago. The Black population in Nevada — 9.4 percent in 2022 — grew at the third-highest rate in the country from 2010 to 2022, according to the Pew Research Center.

A Pew Research survey in January found that 48 percent of Black adults approved of Biden, much lower than his 58 percent approval rating last April and 89 percent approval three months into his presidency. 

“​​If we look back at the two prior Democratic presidents — President Obama and President Clinton — the approval rating of those presidents never, among Black Americans, got as low as Biden's approval rating currently is,” said Jocelyn Kiley, Pew’s associate director of research.

A February poll from The New York Times/Siena College found that 66 percent of Black respondents supported Biden, compared with 23 percent for former President Donald Trump. But of those respondents, 67 percent said they voted for Biden in 2020, while just 4 percent backed Trump. A November poll from HarrisX/The Messenger found that Biden had the support of 59 percent of Black voters nationwide in a rematch of his 2020 race against Trump.

In an interview with The Nevada Independent, Richmond downplayed the polling and said the campaign's goal is to have sound approval ratings at the time of the general election, not months before.

“If everybody was energized today, the real question would be, ‘How do you keep that energy up for another 10 months?’” Richmond said. “We will continue to do the work that's necessary to build that excitement and enthusiasm.”

The Trump campaign is also hoping to capitalize on Black voters’ lower enthusiasm for the Democratic Party. Exit polls conducted after the 2020 presidential election found that 18 percent of Black Nevadans supported Trump, the highest mark in decades for a Republican presidential candidate.

“We are creating a massive problem for the Democratic Party’s base that ... could be altering for a generation,” Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser on the Trump campaign, told The Associated Press in January. “That’s just an opportunity that we would be remiss if we didn’t exploit.”

The policies

In both of Richmond’s Nevada events last month, he made an effort to show Biden’s actions to uplift Black communities.

He referred to the coronavirus stimulus package that included $5 billion to Black farmers; efforts to root out racism in home appraisals; and the bipartisan infrastructure law that made permanent a Commerce Department agency focused on building up minority-owned businesses, among other economic policies. 

He highlighted the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to remove lead pipes from all American water systems and the record-breaking nominations of Black women to appellate court judge positions. And he also acknowledged the challenges that Biden has faced, from a conservative Supreme Court that struck down his effort to forgive billions of dollars in student loans, to a GOP-controlled House of Representatives in place since the start of last year.

“What Biden is probably going to try to exploit from Black voters, many of whom have a strong sense of their racial identity … is try to draw sharp contrast on issues of race to leverage the perceptual advantage that the Democratic Party has enjoyed on civil rights,” Gillespie said.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is boosting efforts to engage Black voters. It is focused on bringing together conservative groups with presences in Black communities in battleground states to counter Biden’s messaging on race, NBC News reported.

Polls show that voters still need convincing to support Biden. The February Times/Siena poll found that just 17 percent of Black voters thought Biden’s policies have helped them personally, while 21 percent said Biden’s policies have harmed them. The rest said Biden’s agenda has not made much of a difference in their lives.

In addition, much of the public is unaware of what the Biden administration considers its signature achievement. In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which brought historic spending to curb the effects of climate change and allowed Medicare to negotiate the costs of prescription drugs, among many other policies. In a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll conducted almost a year later, 71 percent of respondents said they knew “little” or “nothing” about the legislation. 

Richmond is aware of this information gap.

“A lot of it right now is that people just don't know the accomplishments because they've been so busy breaking their backs to survive,” he told The Indy.

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told The Indy last month the key to maintaining Black support is through communication.

“Over 80 percent of Black voters support the Biden-Harris administration and their policies,” Horsford said. “I just need to make sure that those voters know what's at risk if they don't turn out to vote.”

Notably absent, or mentioned sparingly in Richmond’s Southern Nevada remarks, were two issues prominent in Biden’s re-election campaign: abortion rights and the state of democracy. In an interview, Richmond said he focused primarily on the economy because he thinks the Black community is particularly invested in ensuring their financial future is secure.

Melvin Valentine, who works in economic development and helps upscale underprivileged  communities in the Historic Westside, said in an interview that economy is the clear top issue for him and the community members he works with.

“When people are swimming in poverty, then you have a cascade effect, then your mental health, then health, then violence in the community increases,” he said. “If you get that economic component correct, a lot of the other social problems and social issues go away.”

Clark County Commissioner Will McCurdy, a Democrat who joined Richmond at the two events, said in an interview that economic issues are the top priority among his constituents.

“When you think about the average everyday voter, they care about the cost of milk and butter and eggs, and whether their pension is going to be solvent or if their retirement is going to be there,” he said.

Danielle Goodwin, 34, attended the Shepherd’s Breakfast and said it was beneficial to hear more about what the Biden administration has done to support Black communities.

She also wants to see more of an effect on the local level — her friend started an urban farm in North Las Vegas but hasn’t seen any impacts of federal policies, she said.

“We need it to trickle down a little bit more,” Goodwin said.

The person

Sharon Liles, 57, bases her vote on which candidates align with her values the most — and she thinks Biden fits the bill.

The Las Vegas resident cares most about protecting voting rights, access to reproductive health and diversity, equity and inclusion policies. She acknowledged that Biden has faced challenges in his presidency, but that his values make him the best option, especially compared to Trump.

Trump spent years spreading the conspiracy that former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., has faced accusations of racist business practices and referred to some African countries as “shithole countries.”

Asked about what her family and friends think about Biden, Liles said, “there’s an excitement, but there’s also a desperation.”

“It’s urgent that we vote correctly and not be stuck in a delusion,” Liles said.

Liles is part of a group that the Biden campaign hopes to mobilize — one that bases their votes on morals and character rather than any one policy.

Goodwin, the 34-year-old North Las Vegas resident, said the ability to win an election is a prominent factor in why she supports Biden.

“People will vote for Biden, so I say yes [he is the right candidate],” Goodwin said. “I would love to see going forward another stepping up to the plate that are more representative of the population, what we want as a country. There’s a bit of a disconnect, slightly.”

Richmond leaned into the character of Trump and Biden — a similar strategy that led Biden to victory four years ago. In both of his Southern Nevada events, Richmond told the story of a conversation he had with Biden after a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which Trump infamously responded to by saying they were “very fine people on both sides.”

“The former vice president gave me a call and he said ‘Cedric, this country's in trouble,’” Richmond said.

Gillespie said this is likely part of a strategy to contrast Biden’s attitudes on race with Trump’s.

“Racism could be framed as a character trait, and that's not something that's going to appeal to Black voters,” Gillespie said.