CNBC Make It spoke with women across the U.S. about the issues influencing their vote and the possibility of having the first-ever female president.
We’re days away from what could be a historic election, in a highly unusual campaign season.
America could get its first female president in Kamala Harris, a late entrant to the race. But unlike in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic nominee for the job, gender has not been a major talking point throughout the campaign. That seems to be intentional by Harris, who chooses to focus on policy over her identity.
But what do women voters think about the possibility of having the first-ever female president, and where does it fall on their list of priorities?
The gender split at the polls is wide: Harris leads Donald Trump among women by 54% to 42%, while Trump leads Harris among men, 55% percent to 41%, according to The New York Times/Siena College Poll between Oct. 20 to 23.
CNBC Make It spoke with women across the U.S. about the issues influencing their vote. We spoke to students, mid-career professionals, executives and small-business owners who identify as Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
Some of the women we talked to still feel scarred by getting their hopes up for a Clinton win in 2016, and feel less excited and more jaded about seeing a woman on the ballot again.
Others said that, regardless of the outcome, this election represents progress by helping to normalize the idea of a woman as U.S. president.
Here’s a snapshot of what women think about having a female candidate at the top of the ballot for just the second time in history:Emma Bogdan, 18, full-time student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York
It’s comforting to see another woman on the presidential ballot. In 2016, when Hillary was the nominee, it felt like this major, crazy shock. But now, it almost feels normal to me.
I haven’t decided who I’m voting for but gender hasn’t influenced what I’m thinking at all. It just comes down to each candidate’s policies and who might be the better leader for our country.
I do think that seeing a woman on the ballot will, hopefully, encourage more women to vote, even if they don’t vote for Harris. It’s a great change that’s been needed for so long.
But I think it’s going to be a major adjustment for everybody in the U.S. no matter who wins the election. Annie Lazan, 24, human resources assistant in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
In 2016, I really was so confident that we would elect our first woman president. I remember going to the polls with my mom and older sister, and being so proud to watch them cast their vote for [Hillary] Clinton, and we all woke up shocked when she lost to Trump.
I’ll be voting for Harris, and I hope that one day, I can tell my children that I played a role in electing our first woman president. But I’m not just voting for her because of her gender, I think she’s truly qualified for the job. I mean, her track record is phenomenal.
I know politics are complicated, and I don’t think it’s fair to expect her to be some kind of savior and fix all of the problems in the U.S. But I’ve appreciated a lot of the promises she’s made during the campaign, and whether or not she makes good on them, it feels like a step in the right direction for our country. Bushra Amiwala, 26, member of the Skokie School District Board of Education, Chicago, Illinois
In 2016, it seemed beyond overdue that we would have our first woman president in the U.S., and it garnered so much momentum and excitement. But I think today, seeing a woman on the ballot simply isn’t enough. It doesn’t feel as exciting or charming.
Sometimes I wonder if we are being lenient and not pressing Harris as hard on certain issues, just because people want to see a woman in office.
I probably will be voting for Vice President Harris, but I have conflicted feelings about it. On the one hand, she’s been part of the same administration that’s been involved in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and as a Muslim American, that’s an important issue to me.
I know a lot of people who live in non-swing states who are choosing to vote third party for this purpose of making a statement that candidates need to earn their vote, and they’re not impressed with Harris’ approach to a lot of issues.
We’re not just going to applaud because this is a candidate that looks like us, that’s beyond the minimum at this point. Sydney Van Dyke, 27, library worker in Overland Park, Kansas
My first election that I was able to vote in was the 2016 election with Clinton versus Trump. At the time, I thought it was going to be a landslide, like ‘We’re about to have our first woman president.’
I was a little more excited back then, because I had a certain faith in humanity that I don’t really have anymore. And so I’m excited, on the one hand, because we have a woman candidate again, and she is a person of color this time. And I think that’s a step in the right direction, but it’s just worrisome to me who she’s up against. I feel like a lot of the novelty of a woman running for president ran out after the 2016 election, which is crazy.
