Will gender matter in the election? What Americans said about Trump and Harris in poll

More Americans believe Vice President Kamala Harris’ gender will pose a challenge for her campaign than believed the same about Hillary Clinton in 2016, according to new polling.

In the latest AP-NORC poll, 38% of respondents said the fact that Harris is a woman will hurt her a lot or somewhat. A smaller share, 34%, said it would help her a lot or somewhat, and 26% said it won’t make a difference.

In contrast, a similar 2016 poll found that a plurality of respondents, 37%, believed Clinton’s gender would help her, while 29% said it would hurt her and 33% said it wouldn’t make a difference.

Both polls also asked about former President Donald Trump’s gender — with a greater share now saying it will help him than in 2016.

In the latest poll, 41% of respondents said the fact that he is a man will help his campaign, while 13% said it would hurt him and 45% said it wouldn’t matter.

In 2016, a much smaller share, 28%, said Trump’s gender would help him. Ten percent said it would hurt and 61% said it wouldn’t make a difference.

The most recent poll, conducted between Sept. 12-16, sampled 2,028 U.S. adults from across the country and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Breakdown of the findings

Men and women had similar perceptions about how gender will affect Trump’s and Harris’ campaigns, according to the latest poll.

Thirty-nine percent of women and 37% of men said they believed Harris’ gender would hurt her, while 34% of both groups said they thought it would help her.

Similarly, 42% of women and 40% of men said they believed Trump’s gender would benefit him, while 15% of men and 11% of women said they thought it would hurt him.

But when the results were broken down by gender and partisanship, larger differences emerged.

A majority of Democratic women, 56%, said they thought Trump being a man would help him, while just 7% said they thought it would hurt him.

Among Democratic men, 52% said they believed Trump’s gender would benefit him, and 11% said they thought it would hurt his electoral chances.

In contrast, just 29% of Republican women and 32% of Republican men said they thought the former president’s gender would help him. Meanwhile, 16% and 18%, respectively, said they believed it would hurt him.

When asked about Harris’ gender, a majority of Democratic women and men — 52% and 53%, respectively — responded that her gender would hurt her. Thirty percent of both groups said they believed it would help her.

Republican men and women, on the other hand, were less inclined to believe Harris’ gender would be a problem. Forty-one percent and 42%, respectively, said it would help her, while 23% and 27% said they believed it would hurt her.

Interestingly, while there is greater concern about Harris’ gender now than Clinton’s in 2016, fewer Americans now believe women face discrimination (66%) than in 2016 (75%).

Twenty-four percent of respondents said they believe women in general face a lot of discrimination today, while 42% said they believe they face some. Twenty-three percent said they encounter only a little, and 11% said they encounter none at all.

In contrast, 9% said men face some discrimination today, and 26% said they face some. Thirty-five percent said they face only a little, and 30% said they encounter none at all.

This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Will gender matter in the election? What Americans said about Trump and Harris in poll."