On the heels of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer’s announcement that he will retire from the Supreme Court on Tuesday, President Biden’s campaign promises to nominate a Black woman to the court. According to Newsweek, a new poll found the move to be exceedingly popular with Black women voters across the country.
The poll conducted by Higher Heights in conjunction with Change Research found that 86 percent of Black women voters support prioritizing the nomination of the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court when a vacancy next arises. This was done from January 4 to 9 among 507 Black women voters nationwide and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.04 percent.
Glynda C. Carr, Higher Heights president and CEO of Higher Heights, had more to say on the matter in a statement issued Wednesday:
“There are zero Black women on the Supreme Court, zero Black women in the Senate, zero Black women governors, and zero Black women have ever served as president of this country.
“There is no doubt that Black women are uniquely qualified to lead in these roles, and we call on President Biden to address this major gap in representation and ensure that our country’s leadership is fully reflective of the people it serves, beginning with our nation’s highest court,” Carr said.
Only two African American men, Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, have held seats on the court. The voting statistics show that Black women’s support of the Biden administration is exceptionally vital–especially when it came to his 2020 campaign.
Black women turned out to vote for Biden in greater numbers than for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and they were vital in Biden’s wins in states like Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Overall, they made up 12% of Biden’s voters and reached even higher percentages in heavily African American states like Georgia, where they represented 35% of his support. In that state, which Biden won by just over 12,000 votes, he earned the backing of 95% of Black women.