Civics & Society

Ryan Boyer Reflects on the 2024 Presidential Election

Ryan Boyer analyzes 2024 campaigns’ focus on Black voter turnout in Pennsylvania, especially among Black men.

At The Download launch party, I had the opportunity to chat with Ryan Boyer, the first Black leader of the Philadelphia Building & Trades, a prominent labor union in the city. As a son of the labor movement, Ryan understands the vital role that unions play in our communities and our politics.

During our conversation, Ryan and I delved into the state of play of the 2024 election and Black voter turnout. Both campaigns have invested a significant amount of resources into targeting Black voters in Pennsylvania, particularly Black male voters, to encourage them to vote for their respective candidates.

The transcript of our conversation can be found below and the video will be released soon.

Rotimi Adeoye: I'm here with Ryan Boyer and we're talking about the 2024 election. It's a big election year. We have Trump and Harris on the ballot and a lot of down-ballot races. But we really want to talk about what's happening in Philly and across the state of Pennsylvania. So my first question is, how do you think the Harris campaign is doing turning out black voters in Philadelphia?

Ryan Boyer: Well, I think right now, they're turning to the get-out-the-vote portion and it's a lot better than the ramp-up, and I think they're actually doing a good job of getting partnerships now that we can turn out the Black vote in Pennsylvania. But I don't just look at Philadelphia. Philadelphia has the most Black people, but outside of Philadelphia, other counties have just as many Black folks as Philadelphia has. So we have to focus on every vote. Every vote matters, and the African American vote is a crucial voting block in this election.

Rotimi Adeoye: Mhmm. That's a good point. There's a story that came out today (October 16) in Politico that mentioned that you had some disagreements with how the campaign was carrying out their turnout operation. I wanted to see if you had anything else to share about that. Is there anything you think the campaign could be doing better?

Ryan Boyer: Well, I just thought that at that point in time, I'm an old athlete, so I believe in being very honest about where you are in a particular place. I thought the campaign wasn't using (Mayor Parker) their most valuable resource in the most efficient manner possible, but they've since corrected that. If we have a superstar, you know, you leave that superstar in events, you put that superstar out in the field. And I think that they've done that. They've corrected it, and now they have the staffing in place to make

Rotimi Adeoye: My other question is, there's been a lot of stories in the national media, also in local media, about Black men and their support for Harris. Some Democrats are concerned that the lack of support from Black men could actually lead to one of the biggest decreases in Black turnout for Democrats since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Do you think that's true? How do you think this is going to play out?

Ryan Boyer: I think it's true, but I don't think it's fair to put it at the feet of Kamala Harris. I think it's a Democratic party problem. The Democratic party has lifted a lot of people out with specific programs but they don't have a lot of specific programs for Black men. It's almost like they've forgotten us. For example, look at the race in Georgia between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, look at the Black male voter turnout there. And if we don't do something to address the specific systemic problems that black males want the government to address, then you're gonna lose them for generations. This is a real problem, but it isn't a Kamala Harris problem. It's a Democratic party problem.

Rotimi Adeoye: And so what would you say to Democratic party leadership if they were gonna put out a plan for Black men? You saw that Harris already put some ideas out, but what are some things that you think are some specific policy plans that Black men in Philly and across the nation maybe need to see?

Ryan Boyer: I think that Black men just want to see society turn to them. If we have to go back to bringing manufacturing back in a real way in in the cities in, in the cities. Most of the manufacturing jobs are being brought back are being brought back in rural communities and some, some suburban communities where Black men don't populate. If you look at when we were voting a lot, it was when that, that guy could get a high school education and can make a living in the factory, in a tree. So I think that Joe Biden started doing some of that with the justice, 40 on some of the infrastructure act. So they just need to build upon that and tell people that and come up with a muscular message, then stop always apologizing for what we believe.

Rotimi Adeoye: That's a good point. My last question here, what do you think is going to happen on election day? Is Harris going to win?

Ryan Boyer: I think Kamala Harris wins. I think it's gonna be a close race. We need every vote. But I think that once it comes down to rubber meets the road, we're gonna ask our nephews, our nieces, and everyone to vote in their vote because they realize that the alternative is unsustainable and unfair.

Rotimi Adeoye: Well said. Thank you so much, Ryan.

Ryan Boyer: Good to talk with you.