The US Presidential election is only mere weeks away with Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump entangled in a close race.
As multiple polls have shown. The election promises to be a suspenseful culmination of many such polls and predictions. Notably, one recent poll highlighted another interesting twist in the lead up to the election: Women prefer Harris to Trump in the White House, with the Vice President leading the former president by 15%, Politico reported.
And that is not the extent of it. The women also prefer Harris when it comes to one of the most talked-about issues this election cycle – the economy. An American University poll found that women trust Harris over the former president when it comes to doing something about inflation and reducing the rising cost of living in the US, reported Politico.
According to the poll, which surveyed registered female voters, 46% prefer Harris to fix the economy, while another 38% think Trump has a better chance of doing something about it. Of the entire group surveyed, nearly two-thirds of the women noted that inflation and the economy were imperative issues leading up to the election.
For the Democrats, the economy remains a weak point. Trump is regarded by the voters as a strong option when it comes to fixing the economy, a factor which was even more significant when President Joe Biden was still in the race. But since he quit the race in July, and Harris took over, she has slowly gained on Trump’s lead on the issue.
The women surveyed also mentioned that they were feeling better about the economy than before. In 2022 and 2023, more than 60% of suburban women noted their pessimism about the economy. That number has now fallen to 40%. Despite the silver lining, almost two-thirds of the surveyed women admitted their personal finances had only got worse in recent years.
The vice president has “eliminated Trump’s advantage on inflation, narrowed it on the economy more generally and widened that gap with women,” said Lindsay Vermeyen, who conducted the survey. “It is really indicative of the fact that communications are breaking through, and her appeals to voters, or moderate voters, are starting to break through as well.”
The poll also highlighted the apparent gender gap in the campaign; Trump is faring well amongst men and Harris with women. Democrats would, however, like this as they seek to find advantage in their favourability with women. Harris, too, has done enough to regain the trust of women; her favourability in 2023 has now increased by 12 points. Of all the women surveyed, 55% viewed Harris in a positive light while 41% held a negative opinion. Trump saw the support of 57% of the women surveyed.
The poll reflects the yawning gender gap in the campaign, with Trump performing far better amongst men. But it had good news overall for Democrats seeking to press their advantage with women. Harris has improved her favourability rating amongst women since she ascended to the top of the ticket, jumping by 12 points compared with 2023. Now, 55 percent of those surveyed view her positively, while 41 percent hold a negative opinion of her. Meanwhile, 57 percent of women view Trump unfavourably.
Although the economy is important for women, abortion continues to trump it and everything else, especially since the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade protection in 2022. Two-thirds of the surveyed women said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The involvement of the government in a woman’s choice over abortion was something 86% rejected. Making it illegal was something only 14% of the women supported.
Interestingly, the percentage of Republican women seeking to make abortion illegal dropped from what it was in 2023, according to the poll. The 24% of Republican women from last year who believed abortion shouldn’t be allowed was cut down to 12% in 2024, the polls showed. Harris is already supported by 55% of surveyed women who believe she will be competent enough to handle abortion rights.