She Votes: From Issues to Impact

As Americans begin to cast their votes, a new survey shows Vice President Kamala Harris enjoying strong support among women voters. Her favorability has jumped +12 points since last year and she holds a +15 point advantage with women over former President Trump (54%-39%) entering the final month of the campaign. Furthermore, Harris is favored +18 points among Independent women, (50%-32%). In terms of issues, women voters cite "the economy and inflation" as their top concern, with abortion and immigration as their second and third choices. Across the board, women say they trust Harris more than Trump on these key issues. The annual survey, "She Votes: From Issues to Impact," was released today by Gender on the Ballot, a non-partisan project of the Women & Politics Institute at American University's School of Public Affairs.

The online survey of 829 women voters across the United States, conducted by BSG, shows women are highly engaged with the upcoming November election and are tuning into politics at a higher rate than usual. Nearly half of women say this will be the most important election of their lifetime.

"We are poised for the broadest gender gap in modern history in this election and a potentially historic turnout of female voters," said Betsy Fischer Martin, Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute. "Consider She Votes a roadmap to understanding why - and what will motivate women to turn out this November."

"If there is ever a time for voters to be highly engaged in politics - it's October before a presidential election," said Lindsay Vermeyen, Partner at BSG. "This survey shows women are more engaged than ever, because the stakes are high: nearly half of women surveyed told us this will be the most important election of their lifetime"

Key Findings:

• In a turbulent and high-profile election cycle, women are highly engaged with the upcoming November election and are tuning into politics at a higher rate than usual. Nearly half of women say this will be the most important election of their lifetime.
• With Vice President Harris in the spotlight, her favorability has jumped with women nationally, from 43% favorable in 2023 to 55% favorable in 2024. Independent women have increased their opinions of the Vice President by 23 points - 51% of Independent women are favorable, while 38% are unfavorable.
• Vice President Harris has a 15-point lead in the race for President over former President Trump with women nationally (54%-39%), and women believe Harris will win by the same margin (50%-35%). Independent women are voting for Harris by a margin of 18 points.
• Women trust the Democratic ticket to address their top issue of inflation and bring down the cost of living. The Harris-Walz team has worked to gain a reservoir of trust not only on important issues - including on abortion and immigration - but also on leadership qualities across the board: who cares about people like you, who will be a strong leader, and who will make the country a better place for future generations.
• While inflation has contributed to making women's personal financial situations feel worse than ever, the hope they feel in this election year has driven up optimism about the economy overall. More than half of women are optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months - compared to just 40% of women last year.
• There is also a lot of excitement about electing America's first female president. An overwhelming majority of voters think it's important to elect more women to political office and 6 in 10 think the government gets more done when there are more women holding political office. A strong majority also insists the country is more open to a woman president than 8 years ago when Hillary Clinton ran, driven mostly by Democrats and Black women.
• Despite recent attacks on reproductive rights, including abortion, birth control and IVF, voters are strongly supportive of ensuring access to anyone who needs it. A strong majority of women think abortion should be legal and available, without the government being involved, and want contraception and fertility treatments to be accessible and affordable.