Poll Finds Fewer Say Nation Is Ready for a Female President

The share of US voters who say the nation is ready to elect a woman as president has declined since 2015, a new poll shows—even if a female candidate is as qualified for the job as her male opponents. About half of respondents agree that Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are equally qualified to be president, YouGov poll found. But while 54% of registered voters say their countrymen are ready to elect a woman, 30% say the nation at large is not. The supportive share is a 9-point decline from a similar poll conducted in 2015, a month after Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy, the Hill reports.

An Economist/YouGov poll at that time found 63% of voters thought a woman could win. This time, 41% said they'd expect more than half of US voters would not vote for a woman if she and the male candidate were equally qualified. Among Democrats, 37% would not support a female candidate. Against that backdrop, 35% of Democrats say Harris should pick a male running mate, with only 6% saying she should choose a woman for the ticket. The poll was conducted after President Biden announced he's leaving the race. (More Election 2024 stories.)