Women Voters: What’s at Stake For Them This Presidential Election
We asked 2,000 women the issues theyâre most
concerned about this election.
This is what they said…
health care. immigration. crime. economy. gun violence. democracy. cost of living. racism. poverty. taxes. affordable housing. families in financial crisis. democrats. political division. war. free speech. unemployment. abortion rights. affirmative action. homelessness. donald trump. too much government control. corrupt politicians. climate change. billionaires. liberal views. extremist ideology. illegal drugs. rise of christian nationalist ideology. budget deficit. electoral fraud. national security.
Time and again we are told that women will decide the fate of presidential electionsâbe it Black women, white women, suburban women, working women, mothers, or more. Women are the largest group of registered voters and turn out in the highest numbers to cast their ballots. But the pressures on our decisions can feel enormous, no matter what party we align with. At the same time, it can feel as though politicians arenât listening to what women want or delivering enough progress. Itâs time to change that. Which is why weâve conducted a landmark poll with YouGov and spent months journeying into the lives and concerns of women across America. Read on to learn moreâŠ
The poll results: itâs an extremely tight race
73%
of women say they are registered and intend to vote this year
53%
of them support the democrats
47%
of them support the republicans
The Journey of My Abortion
In December 2023, Emma Giglio was 20 weeks pregnant with her third child when she was told that her son had multiple anomalies in utero. For Emma it was agony encased in medicalese. At the next scan, just two weeks later, the prognosis was even worse. Her son was so deprived of amniotic fluid he might not make it to birth. Every next step felt like a knife in the heart.
Emma lives in Charleston, South Carolina, a state where abortion is illegal after six weeks. There are exceptions, including for fetuses who would not survive the full pregnancy, but navigating the law is staggeringly complex. She would need to leave the state for her termination. Emmaâwho had previously never imagined abortion legislation applying to herâwas suddenly trapped in a political war zone.
80% of democrat-leaning women
52% of republican-leaning women
said that abortion was extremely or very important to their vote this year
In the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion has become one of the most hotly contested issues this electionâand one that the Harris-Walz campaign is banking on to drive votes. But it is as divisive as it is motivating. Just over half of all the women surveyed in the Glamour/YouGov pollâa representative cross-section of all American womenâbelieve abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances. And while support largely splits down party lines, 27% of Democrat-leaning women who say abortion matters to their vote this year oppose the procedure, and 31% of Republican-leaning women strongly support it.
Emma Giglio, 36, South Carolina
At 24 weeks pregnant, Emma and her husband, Zach, flew to Maryland on a freezing January day to visit Partners in Abortion Care clinic. Ahead of the termination, Emma wanted to find a birthday cake to honor her sonâs lifeâto mark his arrival, but also his passing. She and Zach tried everywhere they could find in the time they had. But there was nothing. Just a cake pop from Starbucks. It was so small. Was it too insignificant to celebrate a birthday with? Emma questioned. But it was all they had. They paid for it and walked back to the clinic. There she would get a shot in her abdomen that would stop her babyâs heart. And then she would have to deliver.
Emma Giglio, 36, South Carolina
Views on Abortion Around the Country
âAbortion. Itâs the absolute. I know I’m in a state with a Republican supermajority that runs really red. This state went for Trump, and it loves Trump, but Iâve got to fightâŠâ
Rachel Barnes, 41, West Virginia
âSo as a proud Jewish trans man from West Virginia and an abortion patient, I really wanted to shed light on the realities of what it is like to be a trans person whoâs also an abortion patient in a very red stateâŠâ
Ash Orr, 34, West Virginia
âWomenâs lib is the destruction of women. I see women feeling abortion is great when in reality it too has caused many to be depressed after the deed.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Ohio
âWomen’s personal bodily rights are being taken away from them by controlling men using religion as their basis to manipulate the masses.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Colorado
âItâs not right to think you have control over someone elseâs body. You might be a lawmaker; that doesnât make you God.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Utah
The Unwavering Black Women Voters
In the heart of North Carolina, the story of the Carter family beats strong. A testament to resilience woven through Black Americaâs turbulent yet triumphant history. Their tale, rooted in Durhamâa city alive with history and a vibrant pulse of Black excellenceâunfolds like a tapestry woven from the rich threads of New Jersey and North Carolina. There is Deborah Kamilah Carter, at 75 the bedrock of her family, a living archive of stories. She is the mother of Afiya Carter, 51, who with wife kynita stringer-stanback (as she styles her name), 49, parents Afiyaâs two daughters, Naeemah Kelly, 31, and Assata Goff, 23, and son, Sekou Goff, 21. Each family member has carved their path of activism, championing education and community empowerment. What unites them all is a relentless commitment to fighting for racial justice, driven by a shared belief that their voices can spark the change their ancestors dreamed of.
88% of black women intend to vote democrat this election
But this isnât just one familyâs narrative; itâs the chronicle of countless Black women who have long been the unsung heroes of the political arena, showing unrelenting allegiance to one partyâthe Democratsâeven when the rewards are scant. For the past quarter of a century, a staggering 92% of Black women voters, on average, have rallied behind the Democratic ticket in presidential elections since 1992.
From left: Assata Goff, in North Carolina, with her grandmother Deborah Kamilah Carter and great-aunt Courtenaye Johnson Lawrence.
Assata Goff, 23, North Carolina
From left: Kamilah Carter, Courtenaye Johnson Lawrence, Afiya Carter
Deborah Kamilah Carter, 75, New Jersey
Yet even as Black women form part of the heart of the Democratic Partyâs electorate, there is often a troubling dissonance in this relationship. Despite their overwhelming commitment and support for Democrats, the party frequently fails to deliver the substantive changes Black communities desperately need in areas such as education, health care costs, crime reduction, and addressing racial issues. So why do they keep voting for the Democrats? And can the party keep taking their support for granted?
From left: kynita stringer-stanback and wife Afiya Carter
kynita stringer-stanback, 49, North Carolina
The Findings on Gun Control
Every year since 2014, there have been more than 39,000 deaths due to guns. Gun violence has ravaged communities, schools, familiesâaccording to a 2023 poll, more than half of all Americans say that they or a family member have been affected by gun violence. Despite this, in 2022 the Supreme Court struck down New Yorkâs concealed carry law and in 2024 overturned a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, which enable semiautomatic weapons to shoot at the speed of machine guns. And in 2023, after a mass shooting at Covenant Elementary School in Nashville that killed six, rather than impose stricter gun legislation, Tennessee state lawmakers instead voted to arm teachers. But these rulings are out of step with what the majority of American women voters want.
Gun control united women across both parties
65% of Republican women
85% of Democrat women
supported raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21
82%
of all women supported preventing people with mental illnesses purchasing firearms
âI was on Vanderbilt campus and we saw the ambulances come with the children. We were on site when the children were pronounced deadâŠâ
Barbara Sloan, 21, Tennessee
âI love how my dad words it. Heâs always like, âI may be considering myself conservative, but I will not vote on this issue as a conservativeâ…â
Isabella Hipp, 21, Tennessee
âIâm a college professor, Iâm a mother, and Sandy Hook affected all of us. But when they pushed guns onto my campus, that was it for meâŠâ
Johanna Thomas, 43, Arkansas
âGuns should be illegal in all states.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Indiana
âWomen want to be able to own guns if they qualify but donât want their abusers to be able to buy them.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Michigan
The Workers Behind the Workers
Like about 14,000 people in New York City, Kenya is a nanny. It wasnât a career she felt called to. She started working at 16, picking up a series of jobs: at a summer program for kids; at McDonaldâs; at department stores for a spell; as a bank teller. When she started caring for children, she hadnât planned to stick it out. But then she just loved it. She would have liked to have kids of her own, but âit just wasnât in the cards for me,â she says now. In that sense, it isnât a surprise that she found this line of work. The downsides are of course obvious: The work can be strenuous and itâs not well-paid. For some, it is unprotected. Many childcarers around the country will have no sick pay, no employer health insurance, no paid family and medical leave. There is almost no such thing as a stable gig. Kids grow up. Parentsâ childcare needs can shift without warning.
The three biggest issues influencing womenâs votes this election are the economy, health care, and housing
88%
of all American women say that the economy is extremely important to their vote this year
83%
say health care
73%
say cost of housing
Delores, who has been caring for children in one form or another for four decades, almost never has any free time before 8 p.m in the evenings. Her waking hours are spent preparing for work, commuting to work, working, and returning home. Making the trek from her apartment to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she works, she spends over 10 hours in transit each week.
Delores and Kenya are two of nearly 5 million people who work in child, elder, or health care in America. Women represent the overwhelming majority of care workers (85%) and an even greater majority of childcare workers (over 94%). They are directly impacted by the health of the economy, the accessibility of health care, and the cost of housing. Theyâre part of a demographic whose views should matter, but as Delores notes about both Democrats and Republicans, âWe are left out of everything that they do.â The lack of a strong single-party allegiance shows in the polling. According to Glamourâs YouGov survey, women with household incomes between $30,000 and $80,000 are split 50-50 in their support for Democrats and Republicans. But regardless of the politics, too often lost are the voices of care workers themselves.
Views on the Economy Around the Country
âProbably the economy would be my number one issue. When I was younger, I identified more as a Democrat. As I got older, I think my views switched some. I would love for everybody to get free health care, but somebody’s got to pay for it.â
Sandra H., 56, Texas
âIn 2020 I did vote for Biden. Iâve always been super socially liberal. Iâve just changed so much. Iâve become a small business owner, Iâve gotten married. Iâm looking forward to having kids and buying a property. And throughout these last four years, I havenât seen any progress. So Iâm this year going as a conservative more because of the economy. Honestly, the prices of everything has increased so muchâŠâ
Kimberly Pfeiffer, 29, Florida
âStanding Rock specifically, we have such a housing shortage, so thereâs households within households that live here. The lack of housing causes a lot of different things. The lack of employment, lack of transportationâŠâ
Bridget Eagle, 40, North Dakota
âIâm not seeing my kids. I call my kids, I do video with my kids, but Iâm spend the time with my kids? No. Only thing they know is âMama clock out this jobâ and âMama got to go back and clock on this jobâ in a simple text. âI love yâall. Goodnight.â Itâs all like it. We need more sick-pay leaveâŠâ
Andria Carter, 33, Mississippi
âFocus on maintaining and ideally expanding the social safety nets in this country, particularly those helping the poor, such as Medicaid. Expanding access to affordable health care and housing would also be ideal. In general, I think social welfare should be a larger priority than it currently is.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, California
âI would like them to know how much health care costs, and that we often don’t seek out visiting the doctor because of how much it costs.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Washington
âThe American people want transparency with the government. No more lies, hiding stuff from us. Iâm tired of my taxes going to things that do not matter to the American people.â
Anonymous voter from Glamourâs YouGov poll, Arizona
Generation Dissatisfied
Twenty-one-year-old Kieghan Nangle is pro-life and believes only those assigned female at birth should be allowed to play in womenâs sportsâpositions, she says, shaped by her Christian faith and upbringing. Growing up in Plano, Texas, Nangle attended church every Sundayâher parents were âadamantâ about itâand Christian summer camp, which is where she first embraced her faith âindependently.â But she only began sharing her political views publicly after she attended a conference hosted by the Trump-aligned nonprofit Turning Point USA just before her first year at the University of Alabama.
Kieghan Nangle, a graduate of the University of Alabama, is now media affairs coordinator for the Republican National Committee.
Kieghan Nangle, 21, Florida
JUST 56%
of young women aged 18â29 are registered to vote in this election
For many young adults, the transition to college marks their foray into life away from home. Campuses are, and always have been, intimately woven into the fabric of American culture and serve as a microcosm for so much of the countryâs prized diversity: of race, religion, and what should be political discourse. But right now campuses have never been more divided. Those on the right often feel they cannot speak freely and are being demonized for political beliefs which they should have the freedom express. Issues such as the war in Gaza, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights have activated students on the left, but these same students sometimes feel even the Democrats arenât delivering strong enough action.
Ellie Porte, a graduate of American University, Washington, DC.
Ellie Porte, 22, Washington DC
Isabel Hiserodt, president of the campus chapter of Young Democrats at Arizona State University.
Isabel Hiserodt, 21, Arizona
In todayâs America, thereâs also a silent cohort of young people who exist somewhere in the middle and who are too often ignored. The result: a political untethering that could reverberate for generations. Just 56% of 18-to-29-year-olds are registered and intend to voteâthe lowest percentage of any age group by a wide margin. And while there is a significant lean toward the Democrats in this age group, a still hugely significant 29% say they have no political lean at all.
47% of young women under 30 said they lean Democratic
24% of young women under 30 said they lean Republican
29% said they have no lean at allâthe largest percentage to say so of all age groups polled
Amid an election cycle thatâs been anything but ordinary, young people are once again being told their votes could make the difference. But when you zoom in and actually listen to young women across the country, their stories illuminate that while todayâs leaders often tell young people they could save us all, the students themselves are in crisis.
CreditsPhotographed by Kennedi Carter, Ashley Markle, Alyssa Schukar, Lindsey Shorter
Editor in Chief: Samantha Barry. Edited by Natasha Pearlman. Words and audio by Rachel Janfaza, Mattie Kahn, Stephanie McNeal, Natasha Pearlman, Monique Wilson, Ruhama Wolle. Designed by Alexandra Folino. Photo direction by Kathryne Hall and Lauren Brown. Creative development by Tim Klimowicz. Video by Anastasia Sanger. Social design by Channing Smith
Maternity photos by Amber Joy. Kieghan Nangle photographed by Kali Sturgis. Map by Getty Images. Remaining images courtesy of subjects.
