Black Voters in US Midterm Elections 2026 | Gender Gap, Party Preferences, State Results & Voting Trends

Black Voters in US Midterm Elections 2026 backed Democratic House candidates at about 90%, with Black women at 93% and Black men at 86%, according to the national exit poll. Black voters made up 9% of the electorate, and Republican gains among Black men faded, with about 1 in 10 Black men voting Republican, down from about 1 in 4 in 2024.

Black Voters in US Midterm Elections 2026 – Introduction

Black Voters in US Midterm Elections shaped the November 3, 2026 vote in every region where the race ran close. Black voters made up 9% of the national electorate, and 90% of them backed Democratic House candidates, according to the national exit poll. Democrats won control of Congress. In Georgia, Black voters helped elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, the first Black woman elected governor of any US state.

The 2026 results reversed part of the 2024 story. Donald Trump gained with Black men two years ago, and Republicans hoped to keep those gains. They did not. The AP Voter Poll found that only about 1 in 10 Black men backed the Republican House candidate, down from about 1 in 4 who backed Trump in 2024. This report covers the gender gap, party preferences, state results, redistricting fights, and turnout. A few Southern races were still being counted on November 5, 2026, and the report marks them clearly.

Black Voters in US Midterm Elections 2026 – Interesting Facts

DEMOCRATIC SHARE OF BLACK VOTERS, 2026 HOUSE VOTE (each █ = 5%)
Black women | ███████████████████ 93%
All Black   | ██████████████████ 90%
Black men   | █████████████████ 86%

Source: The Voter Poll by SSRS national exit poll; AP Voter Poll (AP-SSRS); Capital B News, November 2026.

The table shows a steady Democratic vote among Black Americans. Black Voters in US Midterm Elections made up 9% of all voters, with Black women at 5% and Black men at 4%. The 90% Democratic share and 9% Republican share leave little room for a third option. The gender split sits inside that average. Black women gave Democrats 93%, and Black men gave them 86%.

The AP Voter Poll adds the comparison that matters most. About 1 in 4 Black men backed Trump in 2024. About 1 in 10 backed the Republican House candidate in 2026. The last three rows move from votes to power. Georgia elected a Black woman as governor for the first time. The Supreme Court’s April ruling and new maps in Southern states cut Black voting power in several districts, and Alabama’s District 2 shows the scale of that change. Black voters did not shift alone. About 7 in 10 voters under 30 also backed Democratic House candidates, according to the AP Voter Poll.

Black Voters Party Preferences in US Midterm Elections 2026: Exit Poll Results by Group

HOUSE VOTE BY GROUP, 2026 (each █ = 5%)
Black women   D | ███████████████████ 93%
              R | █ 6%
Black voters  D | ██████████████████ 90%
              R | ██ 9%
Black men     D | █████████████████ 86%
              R | ██ 12%

Source: The Voter Poll by SSRS, national exit poll, November 2026.

The exit poll puts Black Voters in US Midterm Elections at 9% of the national electorate. Black women made up 5% of all voters and Black men made up 4%. Democrats won 90% of Black voters in House races. Republicans won 9%. Voters of color overall favored Democrats 72% to 26%, so Black voters sat 18 points above the wider group’s Democratic share.

Black women show the strongest Democratic lean at 93%, with only 6% voting Republican. Black men gave Democrats 86% and Republicans 12%. That is a 7-point Democratic gap between the two groups and a 6-point Republican gap. A bloc this loyal decides close races in states with large Black populations, and Georgia and Mississippi fit that pattern. Even a 3-point move in a group this size changes totals in a tight Senate race.

Black Voters Gender Gap in US Midterm Elections 2026: Black Men vs Black Women

REPUBLICAN SHARE OF BLACK VOTERS, 2026 (each █ = 2%)
House vote, men    | ██████ 12%
House vote, women  | ███ 6%
Florida gov, men   | ████████████ about 25%
Florida gov, women | █████ about 10%

Source: The Voter Poll by SSRS; AP Voter Poll (AP-SSRS); Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of 2024 Georgia turnout.

The Black voters gender gap is real, and it is narrower than the 2024 headlines suggested. In the House vote, Black women backed Democrats at 93% and Black men at 86%. Republicans took 6% of Black women and 12% of Black men, so Black men voted Republican at twice the rate of Black women. Both groups still voted Democratic by wide margins. Black women also outvoted Black men in the electorate by 1 point of total share.

State races show the gap more sharply. In Florida, about 1 in 4 Black men backed Republican Byron Donalds for governor, while about 1 in 10 Black women did. In Georgia, about 9 in 10 Black men and about 9 in 10 Black women voted for Bottoms, which erased the gap. Turnout tells the other half. In 2024, 49% of registered Black men in Georgia voted, compared with 63% of Black women. Black women turned out 14 points higher.

Black Voters Shift From 2020 to 2026 in US Midterm Elections: Republican Gains Fade

REPUBLICAN SHARE OF BLACK VOTERS (each █ = 1%)
2020 presidential | ████████ 8%
2024 presidential | ████████████████ 16%
2026 House vote   | █████████ 9%

Source: AP VoteCast (NORC at the University of Chicago), 2020 and 2024; The Voter Poll by SSRS, 2026.

AP VoteCast found that 91% of Black voters backed Joe Biden in 2020 and 8% backed Trump. In 2024, Kamala Harris won 83% and Trump won 16%. The 2026 exit poll shows 90% for Democratic House candidates and 9% for Republicans. The Republican share rose 8 points from 2020 to 2024, then fell 7 points by 2026. The pollsters differ, so the comparison shows direction, not exact size.

Black men carried most of the swing. The AP Voter Poll found about 1 in 4 Black men backed Trump in 2024 and about 1 in 10 backed a Republican House candidate in 2026. The exit poll’s 12% Republican share among Black men fits that range. Republicans gained ground with Black voters in 2024 and held little of it in a midterm shaped by affordability worries that many voters blamed on the Trump administration.

Black Voters in Georgia Midterm Elections 2026: Bottoms, Ossoff and Black Men

BLACK MEN VOTING DEMOCRATIC IN GEORGIA (each █ = 5%)
Harris, 2024        | ███████████████ about 75%
Bottoms, 2026       | ██████████████████ about 90%

Source: AP Voter Poll (AP-SSRS); Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll reporting, October and November 2026.

Georgia gave the clearest case study of Black Voters in US Midterm Elections. Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson and became the first Black woman elected governor of any US state. Jon Ossoff won reelection and will serve alongside Raphael Warnock. The AP Voter Poll found about 9 in 10 Black men voted for Bottoms, up from about three-quarters who backed Harris in 2024. Black women stayed near 9 in 10.

Campaigns spent months on Black men. A virtual rally drew roughly 1,000 people, and Wes Moore, Raphael Warnock and Andre Dickens joined the push. Pre-election polling reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed 88% of Black voters backing both Ossoff and Bottoms. In 2024, 16% of Black men in Georgia voted for Trump. The 2026 result shows Black men moving back toward the Democratic ticket. Georgia reelected Ossoff in the same cycle, so Democrats won the governor’s mansion and a Senate seat with Black voters as a base.

Black Voters in Florida, Michigan, Texas and Maryland Midterm Elections 2026: State Results

BLACK VOTERS FOR THE DEMOCRAT, MICHIGAN SENATE (each █ = 5%)
Typical Democratic result | ██████████████████ about 90%
El-Sayed, 2026            | █████████████████ 86%

Source: AP Voter Poll (AP-SSRS); NBC News Exit Poll, Michigan; Capital B News, November 2026.

Florida split the picture. Donalds won the governor’s race and became Florida’s first Black governor, yet about 1 in 4 Black men and about 1 in 10 Black women backed him over Democrat David Jolly. Moody defeated Nixon in the Senate race. Nixon would have been the state’s first Black senator. Florida shows that Black candidates do not automatically win Black votes across party lines. Party label, policy, and local issues still drive the choice for many voters.

Michigan’s El-Sayed defeated Rogers and won 86% of Black voters, about 4 points below the usual Democratic Senate result. In Texas, Talarico beat Paxton, and Christian Menefee won the Houston-area 18th District. Moore won reelection as Maryland’s governor. Black voters backed the Democrat by wide margins in each race where data exist, though Michigan’s number slipped under the norm.

Black Representation and Redistricting in 2026 Midterm Elections: Districts, Maps and Results

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS SEATS, ANALYST ESTIMATE (each █ = 2 seats)
At risk | ██████████ 20
Safe    | █████████████████████ 42

Source: Capital B News; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Maryland Matters, 2026.

The Supreme Court decided Louisiana v. Callais on April 29, 2026, and narrowed race-based district drawing under the Voting Rights Act. Republican-led states redrew maps within weeks. Analysts warned that about 20 of the Congressional Black Caucus’s 62 members could lose their seats. Alabama cut the Black voting-age population in District 2 from about 49% to 40%. Louisiana eliminated one of its 2 majority-Black districts.

Results ran against the maps in several places, and Democrats held seats that Republican mapmakers targeted. Figures won Alabama’s District 2 under the weaker map. Missouri voters rejected a Republican-drawn map that would have split Kansas City’s District 5, and Cleaver won. Menefee won in Texas. Tennessee split Memphis into 3 districts, and Pearson ran in a new District 9 that is about 32% Black. This report does not list final results for Tennessee’s District 9 or North Carolina’s District 1 because the sources reviewed did not confirm them.

Black Voters in Mississippi and Louisiana Senate Races 2026: Turnout, Margins and Southern Results

MISSISSIPPI SENATE VOTE, NOVEMBER 5, 2026 (each █ = 2%)
Colom (D)        | █████████████████████████ 49.0%
Hyde-Smith (R)   | ████████████████████████ 48.9%
Pinkins (I)      | █ 2.1%

Source: NBC News election results; ABC News; Mississippi Free Press; Capital B News; AFP, November 2026.

Mississippi was the closest Southern race. Colom held 49.0% to Hyde-Smith’s 48.9%, and independent Ty Pinkins took 2.1%. The AP count showed Colom ahead by 1,138 votes on the morning of November 5, 2026, and the race stood uncalled. A Colom win would make him the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction and the first Democrat elected there since 1982.

Louisiana ended differently. Letlow defeated Davis, who had a chance to become the state’s first Black man elected statewide since Reconstruction. Capital B News reported Black turnout there at its highest rate since 2008. Memphis shows the stakes of turnout. Shelby County turnout was just 34% in 2022, and organizers said a Democratic win in the redrawn district needed about 75%.

Black Voters in US Midterm Elections 2026 – Frequently Asked Questions

How Did Black Voters Vote in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

Black voters backed Democratic House candidates at 90% and Republicans at 9%, according to the national exit poll. Black women voted 93% Democratic and Black men voted 86% Democratic. The AP Voter Poll found about 9 in 10 Black voters supported the Democratic House candidate, up from about 8 in 10 who backed Harris in 2024.

What Percentage of Voters Were Black in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

Black voters made up 9% of the national electorate in the 2026 exit poll. Black women were 5% of all voters, and Black men were 4%. Voters of color overall made up 27% of the electorate.

Did Black Men Vote Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

Some did, but fewer than in 2024. The exit poll shows 12% of Black men backing Republicans in House races. The AP Voter Poll found about 1 in 10, down from about 1 in 4 who backed Trump in 2024.

What Is the Black Voter Gender Gap in 2026?

Black women favored Democrats by 7 points more than Black men in the exit poll, 93% to 86%. Republicans won 6% of Black women and 12% of Black men. In Georgia’s governor race, both groups voted about 9 in 10 for Bottoms.

Who Was the First Black Woman Elected Governor in 2026?

Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s governor race on November 3, 2026. She became the first Black woman elected governor of any US state. She defeated Republican Rick Jackson and will succeed Gov. Brian Kemp.

How Did Redistricting Affect Black Voters in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

The Louisiana v. Callais ruling on April 29, 2026 led several Southern states to redraw maps. Alabama’s District 2 dropped from about 49% to 40% Black voting-age population. Louisiana lost one of 2 majority-Black districts, and Tennessee split Memphis into 3 districts.

Did Black Voter Turnout Rise in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

Capital B News reported Black turnout in Louisiana at its highest rate since 2008. Organizers in other Southern states also reported higher turnout. National Black turnout figures were not final on November 5, 2026, so this report does not give a national rate.

Which Black Candidates Won Statewide Races in 2026?

Bottoms won Georgia’s governor race, Donalds won Florida’s governor race, and Wes Moore won reelection in Maryland. Mississippi’s Senate race between Colom and Hyde-Smith stood uncalled on November 5, 2026, with Colom ahead by 1,138 votes in the AP count.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.