In most elections, married couples tend to vote alike. But this year, polls indicate that married women are spurning the Republican nominee at levels not seen in decades.
In households around the country, husbands and wives who have traditionally voted the same ticket are parting ways at the ballot box, creating tension — and denial.
The gender gap, in which women are more likely to vote for Democrats and men for Republicans, is a well-known reality of American politics.
But, according to this article in the Chicago Tribune, what’s less often understood is that the divide has usually been widest with unmarried women, who side with Democratic candidates by large margins.
Female voters tell pollsters they are anxious about Trump’s bombast, the kind of role model he would be for their children, and the prospect of him having control of the nuclear launch codes.
“I’m pretty sure there is not 100 percent truthfulness in wives talking to their husbands about who they are voting for,” said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who co-organized the focus group in Charlotte.
The focus group, which reporters were invited to watch long distance, is part of a multiyear project sponsored by Wal-Mart to gauge the attitudes of mothers who shop at its stores, a key swing voting bloc in recent elections.
The split-household phenomenon may be one factor driving the high level of tension that this election is causing voters.
Nearly 1 in 4 likely voters says the campaign has caused them “serious stress,” according to an ABC News tracking poll published last week.
A Pew Research survey released this month found that 41 percent of voters not supporting the same candidate as their spouse have had an argument about the election.
Read the full story here at the ChicagoTribune.com
