Demographic gaps between parties widen
BY REID WILSON - 03/20/18 03:21 PM EDT
The Democratic Party is building a coalition of women, the well-educated and younger voters ahead of this year’s midterm elections, while Republicans flex their advantage among men, whites and those who do not have a college degree.
Those gaps, exacerbated by strong feelings for and against President Trump, have never been wider, according to a new analysis of more than 10,000 interviews conducted by the Pew Research Center over the course of the last year.
“The gender gap is as wide as we’ve seen in the last two decades. The education gap is wider than it’s ever been. And you see a generation gap that’s growing,” said Carroll Daugherty, the center’s director of political research.
Fifty-six percent of women who are registered to vote say they are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with just 37 percent who say they are Republican or lean toward the GOP. That’s higher than at almost any point since 1992, the famous “Year of the Woman.”
Republicans have only a 4-point edge among male voters, 48 percent to 44 percent. The gap among women has grown since Trump’s inauguration, while the gap among men has stayed about the same.
Among college-educated voters, 58 percent say they lean toward Democrats, while just 36 percent are with the GOP. That’s the highest gap since Pew started asking the question a quarter century ago.
At the same time, Republicans have grown their share among voters without a college degree. Forty-seven percent of those voters now side with the GOP, up from 42 percent during the 2014 midterms.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/379369-demographic-gaps-between-parties-widen