Feminine voters had been anticipated to end up in droves for Kamala Harris on Election Day. There was an promoting blitz encouraging conservative girls to vote for Harris in secret. There was a daring proclamation by anti-Donald Trump Republican Liz Cheney that girls would “save the day” Tuesday. And polling confirmed Harris held a formidable 20-point lead over Trump on the problem of abortion.
None of it was practically sufficient for Harris to clinch the presidency.
Political students and pollsters say Trump handily defeated Harris regardless of his weaknesses on points akin to abortion due to areas wherein he linked so strongly with voters — particularly his declare that he would repair the financial system and his dedication to being completely different from the present administration.
“Once you take a look at the exit ballot, what’s the subject that was most vital? It was the financial system and folks feeling like they couldn’t make ends meet and that inflation was having a unfavorable affect on their lives,” mentioned Debbie Walsh, director of the Heart for American Ladies and Politics at Rutgers College.
“The problem Kamala Harris had was whereas she was not Joe Biden, she is Joe Biden’s vice chairman, and attempting to unhook herself from that when the president himself had such a excessive disapproval charge was actually tough,” she mentioned.
Information from NBC Information’ exit polling in 10 key states as of seven p.m. ET Wednesday confirmed giant gender gaps for the candidates: Amongst males, who made up 47% of the voters, Harris received 42% of the vote and Trump received 55%. Amongst girls, who made up 53% of the voters, 53% voted for Harris and 45% for Trump.
Damaged down by race and schooling, the gender hole confirmed even wider splits in some instances: An awesome 91% of Black girls voted for Harris vs. 7% who voted for Trump, and 57% of college-educated white girls voted for Harris vs. 41% who voted for Trump.
However amongst white feminine non-college graduates, solely 35% voted for Harris vs. 63% who voted for Trump.
“There may be this instructional divide on this nation which has turn out to be way more pronounced by way of voting conduct,” mentioned Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Analysis, who performed the ultimate NBC Information ballot earlier than the election with Republican pollster Invoice McInturff of Public Opinion Methods. “Sure, abortion is a very, actually elementary subject to the election, however whenever you’re notably white girls and white non-college-educated girls, inflation, value of dwelling and different points weaken her margins with these voters.”
A majority of voters in exit polling — 65% — mentioned they supported abortion being authorized, and 93% of all voters expressed extra belief in Harris to deal with abortion in contrast with simply 5% who put their belief in Trump. However simply 14% of voters mentioned abortion mattered essentially the most to their votes once they had been requested to decide on out of 5 points. The financial system was essentially the most urgent subject for many voters, with 32% rating it first.
Harris is the second lady Trump has defeated within the race for president. That doesn’t imply that Individuals are usually not prepared for a feminine president, Walsh mentioned, mentioning that Hillary Clinton received the favored vote in 2016.
However, she added, Harris confronted an infinite uphill battle, particularly as a result of she had so little time to introduce her stances on all the problems after Biden introduced he was dropping out of the race.
“When a lady of colour is working for that job, it’s utterly upending all of the stereotypes about who can lead, and he or she had lower than 200 days to try this,” she mentioned.
Trump’s win prompted a variety of reactions from feminine voters.
In Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Jessica Elliott mentioned she voted for Trump as a result of she felt he would “permit us to go in the best route” with the financial system, her main concern.
“I’m a single mother who’s obtained a daughter who’s full-time, and groceries are laborious. Gasoline is tough. Issues are costly,” she mentioned. “Budgets are actually, actually, actually stretched skinny.”
In Phoenix, the capital of the swing state of Arizona, small-business proprietor Alexandria Bielek cried Wednesday earlier than she described how dissatisfied she felt, particularly as a lady.
“I’m feeling devastated,” mentioned Bielek, 50. “I’m 100% optimistic that inside the subsequent 4 years, there’s going to be a nationwide abortion ban.”
She mentioned she had hoped for a unique final result.
“I simply thought that the opposite selection was so despicable that she was actually going to have an opportunity, particularly not campaigning very closely on the truth that she was a lady,” Bielek mentioned.
In her concession speech Wednesday, Harris inspired supporters to proceed to battle for the longer term they need to see within the nation.
She instructed younger individuals to by no means hand over.
“You’ve gotten energy,” she mentioned. “And don’t you ever pay attention when anybody tells you one thing is unimaginable as a result of it has by no means been carried out earlier than.”
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. Extra from NBC Information:
