The Gender Gap in Voting

It is no surprise to anyone, I think, that older (white) men are key to Republican victories. Thinking more about our discussion of the election, this article gives a nice breakdown of both age and gender gaps in voting the other day. I am generally very intrigued by the victory of various female GOP candidates, particularly since we still see women tending to vote for Democrats.

This also makes me curious about how the gender gap may or may not change in the future. We see more general support for "women's issues" from the left, but perhaps increased female GOP representation will cause that to shift and will lead to a decrease in the gender gap. The Republicans know how important older men are to their success, but the party that lacks organization and diverse support is definitely trying to reshape its image and identity, and in turn gain support from a variety of demographics. It may be up to these new female GOP representatives to narrow the gender gap in voting.