Former Black Voices for Trump chair T.W. Shannon says Republicans can keep the momentum from Trump’s 2024 surge among Black voters, even though the ex‑president won’t appear on the 2026 midterm ballot.
Shannon Cites Policy Wins and Democratic Missteps
Shannon, the former Oklahoma House speaker turned lieutenant governor nominee, argues the GOP has reclaimed its working‑class identity under Trump and can attract Black voters.
He points to job creation and lower crime rates in the second Trump administration as tangible benefits for Black communities.
The former chair notes that Trump captured 16% of the Black vote in 2024, double his 2018 share, according to a Fox News Voter Analysis.
Shannon warns that Democratic candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America propose tax hikes, Senate abolition and police disbanding, positions he says are unpopular in Black neighborhoods.
DNC Pushes Back
A DNC spokesperson counters that Black voters will reject Trump’s “billionaire‑first, cost‑raising agenda” and instead support Democrats focused on lowering costs and delivering for working families.
The party says it is investing heavily to register and mobilize Black voters nationwide while defending civil and voting rights against what it calls Trump administration attacks.
Shannon, a Lawton native and the first African American speaker of the Oklahoma House, is favored to win the November election in solidly Republican Oklahoma.
He said speaking at the first GOP midterm convention in Dallas gave him a national platform to tout Oklahoma and America’s strengths.
Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail for Fox News.
