Women Voters and the Firewall That Wasn’t

What happened to women voters as Harris drew fewer of them than Biden in 2020? Even in pro-choice strongholds, economic concerns trumped reproductive rights.

To examine this I’m was joined the morning after the election on this WhoWhatWhy podcast by Amanda Becker, a 2023 Nieman Fellow and Washington correspondent for The 19th. She is the author of the book You Must Stand Up: The Fight for Abortion Rights in Post-Dobbs America.

She expalins that the great female firewall against Trump’s return never materialized. In fact, it crumbled. 

Vice President Kamala Harris actually performed worse than Joe Biden did in 2020, capturing just 54 percent of women’s votes compared to his 57 percent. 

Even more stunning: In states like Ohio and Kentucky, where women had recently mobilized to protect reproductive rights, the expected momentum vanished. What happened? 

The answer challenges everything we thought we knew about women voters in post-Roe America.