“It looks worse for Donald Trump than it did back in June,” stated Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology at KFF, a well being info nonprofit that features KFF Well being Information. “Harris becoming the Democratic presidential nominee energized women voters in a way that the Biden candidacy had not.”
President Joe Biden deserted his reelection bid on July 21, beneath stress from Democratic Celebration leaders, after a stumbling efficiency in a June debate towards Trump that reignited issues in regards to the 81-year-old’s health for a second time period.
Whereas girls are extra captivated with voting for Harris than they have been for Biden, the election stays shut. Harris has a 2.5-point edge in nationwide polls, in line with a FiveThirtyEight evaluation. Different polls have discovered a big gender divide within the election, with a majority of girls backing Harris and a majority of males backing Trump.
Harris has lengthy been one of many Democratic Celebration’s foremost advocates for abortion rights, and she or he has assailed Trump for appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Courtroom who joined within the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 opinion that assured abortion entry nationally. 13 states have since banned abortion with few exceptions, in line with KFF.
Trump says the ruling merely returned the difficulty to states, and although his positions have typically shifted, he has not too long ago promised to not signal a nationwide abortion ban. Harris says she would signal a legislation restoring nationwide abortion rights.
The previous president has made generally awkward appeals to girls voters.
“You will be protected, and I will be your protector,” Trump advised girls voters at a rally Sept. 23 in Indiana, Pennsylvania. “Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
The KFF ballot discovered that Harris is gaining on Trump amongst girls not simply on abortion — a topic the previous president tries to downplay, acknowledging its political peril — but in addition on financial points, which Trump and his advisers regard as amongst their strongest arguments for his return to the White Home.
A number of polls have proven that the economic system stays a prime subject within the election, particularly for Black and Hispanic girls. About 75% of respondents within the KFF survey stated they fear about family bills “a lot” or “some.”
Inflation was the highest subject for 36% of KFF survey respondents general, whereas 13% recognized abortion as their precedence.
About 46% of girls voters within the new ballot stated they belief Harris over Trump to handle family prices, whereas 39% belief the previous president extra. Sixteen p.c stated neither.
In KFF’s earlier ballot of girls within the spring, respondents have been almost evenly cut up on which social gathering they trusted extra to handle rising family prices. About 40% stated they trusted neither social gathering.
On well being care prices, Harris holds a big lead over Trump within the new ballot, with 50% trusting her extra on the difficulty, 34% trusting Trump extra, and 16% trusting neither.
Kirzinger stated Black girls particularly choose Harris on financial points; for instance, they belief the vice chairman 7-to-1 over Trump on inflation, she stated.
Greater than half of U.S. voters have been girls within the final two nationwide elections, in line with the Census Bureau.
“A Democratic candidate needs to win women at very high rates and needs to enthuse the base — which largely consists of women,” Kirzinger stated. “What we saw in early June was, the Biden candidacy was not doing that. Now it seems the Harris campaign is doing that in multiple different ways; it’s not just abortion. It’s her as a candidate making women more enthusiastic.”
The KFF ballot was performed Sept. 12 to Oct. 1 amongst 649 girls who had been surveyed within the spring, in addition to a supplemental pattern of 29 Black girls registered voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 factors.
