Here’s where women voters stand in the Biden-Trump rematch

Women voters will play a pivotal role in November’s general election, as both parties support key demographics and reproductive rights emerges as a key motivating issue on both sides of the issue.

Millions more women than men registered to vote In recent cycles, they have outperformed men in turnout in every presidential election since 1964.

However, polls show that women voters are not monolithic and may differ in how they vote and in what issues are most important to them.

As 2024 heats up, here’s where women voters stand.

women voters of color

Black women are considered by many to be the backbone of the Democratic Party, and were particularly instrumental in helping President Biden and his party turn Georgia from red to blue in 2020.

“Over the last few cycles, we’ve seen Black women really push the Democratic Party to recognize the value of Black women as voters,” said Kelly Dittmer, a political scientist at Rutgers University and a scholar at the school’s Center for American Women in Politics. “Some of them were black women,” he said, adding that some of them were black women. Under pressure, Kamala Harris was selected as Biden’s 2020 running mate.

This cycle, Black women say cost and inflation are among their biggest problems. A poll conducted by HIT Strategies on behalf of the Heiter Heights Leadership Foundation, a national organization dedicated to increasing the political power of black women, found that 71 percent of black women are “very concerned” about the cost of living. 65% of respondents said they were “very concerned” about the cost of living. He was “very concerned” about affordable housing.

Polls show that Black women also express concerns about the future of reproductive rights. More than 40% of black women said they would be more likely to support a candidate who “supports reproductive freedom.”

“So far, their biggest concern has been the economy. People are just trying to be able to go to the grocery store, put gas in their tank, and pay their rent or mortgage,” Higher Heights Communications said. said April Turner, vice president.

“We also think abortion rights are very important to them and something that we think will definitely galvanize Black women who are going to vote this year,” she continued. “The deprivation of these rights is a concern for them.”

Gallup poll from February The Democratic Party’s lead among Black Americans has fallen by nearly 20 points over the past three years, and the Democratic Party’s lead among Hispanic adults is at its lowest since 2011.

Experts say there is no evidence that voters of color have left the party in droves. About 7 in 10 Latino women voted for Biden over Trump in 2020, while about 6 in 10 Latino men did the same, according to the survey results. CAWP research.

But the polls show a need for both parties to step up their engagement with Hispanic voters, especially women, who turned out at a higher rate than Hispanic men in 2020.

“Latinx women and Asian women make up an increasingly large share of the electorate; [there’s] It’s not as consistent as the community of black women and their political beliefs and views because they’re so diverse in where they come from, where they come from, where they live in the United States,” Dittmar said. said.

For example, Dittmar noted that Cuban-Americans have “very different” political orientations compared to Mexican-Americans.

according to Survey from UnidosUS The report, released late last year, found that 54% of Latino voters said inflation and livelihoods were their top issues, followed by the economy at 44% and health care at 33%. The same poll also found widespread support for abortion rights among Latinos, with 71% saying they oppose efforts to restrict access to abortions.

“As in recent elections, Latino voters are motivated by concerns about a fair and prosperous economy, a common-sense approach to immigration that includes a path to citizenship for their friends and family in this country. We understand that on climate change,” said María Teresa Kumar, Founding President and CEO of Voto Latino.

“But what makes this election so remarkable is that we’ve seen Latinos in particular energized by the fight for women’s right to speak out about their bodies. Roe’s Reversal As a result, we recognized that this issue ranks among our top priorities, but now policies regarding other reproductive rights, including contraception and IVF, are becoming increasingly clear. So you can see that this issue is a bigger motivator than ever.”

Gen Z female voters

Women have long been more likely than men However, the ideological gender gap is particularly pronounced among young men and women.

A Change Research survey conducted last year found that nearly two-thirds of women aged 18 to 34 identify as progressive or liberal, but only just over a third of young men identify the same way. It turned out that it wasn’t.

“I don’t think young people are making very direct, sharp, sharp right turns. What’s happening with young men is that they’re becoming more like older men in American society. “I think that’s true,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the nonpartisan research firm PRRI and author of a forthcoming book on Gen Z women in American politics. .

At the same time, younger women have become “significantly more progressive and liberal than older women.”

Deckman said her research regularly finds that young women are more likely than other groups to say they “will only vote for candidates who support my position on abortion.” Ta.

They are also more likely to identify as members of the LGBTQ community than any other group and look for candidates who support LGBTQ rights.

“For Gen Z women, their identity is very important to their thoughts and attitudes about politics and voting priorities,” Deckman says.

Data from CAWP The survey found that approximately 54% of young women aged 18-24 and 66% of women aged 25-44 voted in the 2020 presidential election. This compared to 49% and 60% of men in the same age group, respectively.

However, members of Gen Z are generally moving away from party labels and expressing distrust in the political system. Turner noted that this is seen among young black women.

“Our polling shows that black women voters aged 18 to 49 have significantly lower trust in institutions overall, are less likely to feel they have political power, and less likely to trust the party system. is also low,” Turner said.

suburban women voters

Suburban women voters have been considered one of the most important voting blocs since at least 2018, when they helped Democrats take on Trump and Republicans in the midterm elections.

According to a 2018 CBS News exit poll, 53% of suburban women voters said they voted Democratic, up from 47% in 2014 and 51% in 2016. In 2020, Biden won 54% of all suburban voters, according to Pew. Research Center.

“There’s a long history of trying to carve out different parts of suburban women, and that’s why people talk about soccer moms, Walmart moms, and security moms. These are fundamentally different types of suburban women,” says George. said Michelle Swords, a professor of American government at Town University who focuses on Congress, women, and politics.

Each party has to fight for suburban parties, as urban areas tend to be more Democratic and rural areas more Republican.

“And we find that women vote more than men, so suburban women are a particularly attractive group in that sense,” Swords said.

Since the Roe v. Wade reversal, Democrats have used abortion as a strategy to win support from suburban women and other voters.

“Democrats have won in the past by convincing suburban women about abortion, and that will be true again this time,” Williams said.

Former President Trump has secured the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination, but Republicans are sensing danger among suburban women. recently claimed A campaign to stop the claim that “suburban housewives actually like Donald Trump.”

President Trump has mocked and made vulgar comments about women on the campaign trail and while in office in comments such as: prompt insult tracker during the last election cycle.

This neglect, combined with his positions on issues such as reproductive rights and gun control, could give Biden an advantage with strong support from women.

“I think Republicans … underestimate the anger that female voters feel about gun violence in America,” said Martha McKenna, a Democratic strategist and Emily’s List veteran.

“Especially for moms and grandmas, you live with a lump in your throat about the random, horrifying, deadly acts of violence and gun violence that are everywhere. … It doesn’t get enough attention for suburban women. No problem.”

College-educated female voters and non-college-educated female voters

There’s one more thing Widening gender disparity In university education: Young women over the age of 25 are more likely than their male counterparts to earn a bachelor’s degree or higher as their highest level of education. 2022 data from the US Census.

“College-educated voters are leaning very heavily toward Democrats right now. We’ve had more women attending college for a while now, but we’ve seen that gap widen since the pandemic,” Sewers said. Told.

“So when you combine the gender gap that exists and college education, I think if we had more women with college degrees, we would probably have more Democratic voters in that group,” Swords said.

Analysis by Pew Research The researchers found that Trump’s vote share among women without a college degree rose between the 2016 and 2020 elections, and that in 2020, white women without a college degree increased. They chose the Republican Party by a margin of 64% to 35%.

“People who feel like no one is fighting for them in Washington, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s immigration, whether it’s foreign policy, they’re not being heard and represented in Washington. You feel like you’re not being heard, and then Donald Trump comes along and says, “I am.” I’m here to be a voice for the voiceless, whether or not it’s true.” , he made them feel that way,” said Republican strategist Alice Stewart.