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Women voters were expected to vote for Kamala Harris in droves on Election Day. Advertisements secretly encouraged conservative women to vote for Harris. Anti-Donald Trump Republican Liz Cheney boldly declared on Tuesday that women will “save the day.” And polls show that Harris has a 20-point lead over Trump on the abortion issue.
None of it was enough to clinch Harris the presidency.
Political scientists and pollsters say that despite Trump’s weaknesses on issues such as abortion, he easily defeated Harris because he had such a strong connection with voters. He says this is thanks to his insistence on rebuilding the field, especially the economy, and his stance that is different from that of the current administration.
“When you look at the exit polls, what’s the most important issue? It’s the economy and people feeling like they can’t make ends meet and that inflation is having a negative impact on their lives,” said Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics. said Debbie Walsh.
“The challenge that Kamala Harris faced was when she was Joe Biden’s vice president, not Joe Biden, and when the president’s own disapproval ratings were so high, she was able to extract herself from that. It was really difficult trying to get free,” she said.
NBC News exit poll data from 10 major states as of 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday showed a large gender disparity among candidates. Among men, who made up 47% of eligible voters, Harris won 42% of the vote and Trump won 55%. Among women, who make up 53% of eligible voters, 53% voted for Harris and 45% for Trump.
By race and educational attainment, the gender gap was even more divisive in some cases. An overwhelming 91% of black women voted for Harris, compared to 7% who voted for Trump, and 57% of white college-educated women voted for Harris, compared to 57% who voted for Trump. Ta. 41% voted for Trump.
But among white women without a college degree, only 35% voted for Harris, compared to 63% who voted for Trump.
“There are educational disparities in this country, and they’re becoming more pronounced in terms of voting behavior,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, of Public Opinion Strategies, in his last NBC interview before the election. said Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research, the Democratic pollster who conducted the news poll. . “Certainly abortion is a really fundamental issue for the election, but if you look specifically at white women and white women without a college education, inflation and cost of living and other issues weaken her margins with those voters. ”
Exit polls showed a majority of voters (65%) supported legalizing abortion, and 93% of all voters expressed confidence in Harris to handle abortions, compared to 93% who trusted Trump. It was only 5%. But when asked to choose between five issues, only 14% of voters said abortion was most important to their vote. The economy is the most pressing issue for most voters, with 32% ranking it first.
Harris is the second woman to be defeated by Trump in the presidential election. That doesn’t mean Americans aren’t ready for a female president, Walsh said, pointing to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 popular vote victory.
But she added that Harris faced a very difficult battle, especially after Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race, as she had little time to introduce her positions on all issues.
“For a woman of color to run for that office completely overturns the stereotypes of who can be a leader. She didn’t have 200 days,” she said. .
Trump’s victory provoked mixed reactions from female voters.
Jessica Elliott of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, said she voted for Trump because she felt he would “get the economy moving in the right direction,” which is her biggest concern.
“I’m a single mother with a daughter who works full time, and it’s hard to get groceries. Gas is difficult. Things are expensive,” she said. “The budget is really, really, really tight.”
In Phoenix, the capital of battleground state Arizona, small business owner Alexandria Bielek cried Wednesday before saying how disappointed she was, especially as a woman.
“I feel devastated. I am 100% sure that within the next four years, abortion will be banned nationwide,” said Bielek, 50.
She said she expected a different result.
“I thought she would have a real chance because the other choices were very despicable and especially didn’t really promote the fact that she was a woman,” Bielek said.
In her concession speech Wednesday, Harris encouraged her supporters to keep fighting for the future they want to see in this country.
She told young people to never give up.
“You have power,” she said. “And when someone says something is impossible, when they say it’s impossible because it’s never been done before, don’t you listen?”
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
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