What the U.S. election says about how American women cast their ballots

WASHINGTON — As Kamala Harris made her final speech of the U.S. election campaign, conceding the race to president-elect Donald Trump, many women in the crowd at her alma mater in Washington had tears running down their faces.

The disappointment was palpable. Supporters talked about feeling betrayed by an American population who they believe voted against bodily autonomy and dismayed that another woman could lose to Trump.

“Lining up to give up their rights,” Nadine Seiler, 59, said at Howard University on Wednesday. “I don’t have an answer for it. I would never do it. And I don’t have an explanation for it.”

Harris was in a difficult battle, taking the helm of the Democrats’ ticket little more than three months before election day. President Joe Biden removed himself after a disastrous debate performance against Trump, and with polls showing he had diminishing support from a divided America upset by inflation and immigration.

Harris, who was already the first woman to serve as vice-president and the second to head a major party’s presidential ticket, came out strong. She spoke authoritatively about issues such as reproductive rights and equality for all.

The Democrats hedged their hopes on women casting ballots for Harris. On the surface, it could have appeared they were making headway.

The Swifties4Kamala group launched, with pop star Taylor Swift throwing an endorsement behind Harris. Beyoncé joined the vice-president on stage and her song opened every rally.

Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign was pushing support among men, appearing on podcasts like “The Joe Rogan Experience” and having celebrities like Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock in his corner.

Some people mused it could lead to the largest gender gap in a U.S. election. Ultimately, very little changed about how women voted this time.

Early exit polls, which are preliminary, show women’s voting behaviour was consistent with the last three presidential election cycles.

“Having a woman on the ballot is not an indicator of women’s voting behaviour,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics.

Overall, Trump and Harris’s support from women was around the same margin as it was in the 2020 race when Trump faced Biden, and the 2016 race against Hillary Clinton.

Black women, who have consistently voted for the Democrats, came out in even higher numbers for the vice-president: more than 90 per cent. Sixty per cent of Latino women also cast a ballot for Harris.

But 53 per cent of white women voted for Trump.

Dittmar said people should not be surprised. White women have consistently voted Republican for decades.

Education is changing voting habits. White women with college educations voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, but ever since Trump entered politics, they are shifting to the Democrats.

However, white women without a college education are moving toward Trump.

This year is the second time Trump ran against a woman. And the second time the Republican won.

During his campaign against Clinton in 2016, there was also outrage around Trump’s comments about women and the Democratic candidate herself.

“We have to be careful about not attributing either Harris or Clinton’s loss to the fact that they were women,” said Dittmar, adding that gender plays a role, but is not generally the motivating factor, in how people vote.

While Clinton leaned into her gender, Harris rarely pointed to it, said Allison Prasch, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That makes it harder to analyze just what role racism or sexism played.

What is clear: Trump’s lean into traditional masculinity connected with men. He received support from 60 per cent of white men and 55 per cent of Latino men who voted.

The vast majority of Black men supported Harris, but Trump almost doubled that share from 2020.

“One of the things that has been striking to me is that younger male voters connected with Trump and were motivated to vote for him because they see how he carries himself … as a strong, masculine, protective figure,” said Prasch, an expert on U.S. presidential rhetoric.

Trump made waves in the final weeks of his campaign saying he’d be a protector “whether the women like it or not.” Prasch said that rhetoric connects with some women at a higher level than Democrats expected.

Democrats also hoped the 2022 fall of Roe v. Wade and concerns about reproductive rights that have dogged other Republican candidates would bring women to the polls in droves.

Harris highlighted the issue in speeches and spotlighted women who suffered severe health complications as a result of abortion bans at rallies throughout the campaign.

Dittmar noted that women aren’t one-issue voters and some women don’t support abortion. In states where abortion was down-ballot, some women voted to ensure its access, but didn’t cast a ballot for Harris.

When asked about how Americans cast their ballots in relation to reproductive rights, Marci Ien, Canada’s minister for women and gender equality, said other issues were at play.

“People are having a hard time feeding their families and that’s the number 1 issue, you know,” she said.

“They’re talking about crime and safety of their family and friends and neighbourhoods. That’s an issue. It’s not just one thing. It’s several things.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press