Everyone thought 2024 would be the "Year of the Woman." Pundits were basically screaming it from the rooftops. With the end of Roe v. Wade and the first woman of color at the top of a major ticket, the math seemed simple. But as the dust settled on the 2024 election, the reality of how many women voted for Kamala turned out to be way more complicated than a simple pink wave.
Honestly, the numbers might surprise you. If you just look at the headlines, you’d think Kamala Harris won women by a landslide. She did win them, sure. But the margin wasn't what the Democrats were banking on. According to AP VoteCast, a massive survey of over 120,000 voters, Harris took about 53% of the female vote. Donald Trump? He nabbed 46%.
That’s a 7-point lead.
Sounds okay, right? Well, not when you compare it to 2020. Joe Biden won women by about 12 points. So, instead of gaining ground with women, the Harris-Walz ticket actually saw the gap shrink. People kept waiting for a massive surge that just... didn't show up the way they expected.
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The Demographic Split: Who Actually Showed Up?
It’s easy to talk about "women" like they're some giant monolith, but that's just not how it works. You've got different ages, races, and education levels all pulling in different directions.
The Shift in Young Voters
Young women (ages 18-29) were supposed to be the secret weapon. They did back Harris, with about 58% to 61% of their vote going her way depending on which exit poll you trust. But here's the kicker: even that was a drop from the 65% Biden got in 2020. There’s been a lot of talk about Gen Z men swinging right, but young women also drifted away from the blue column just a bit.
The Education Divide
This is where things get really interesting. If you have a college degree, you likely went for Harris. College-educated white women cemented their shift to the left, with Harris winning them by a 17-point margin. That's a huge jump from the 9-point lead Biden had.
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But then you look at women without degrees. Trump absolutely dominated here. Among white women without a college education, more than 6 in 10 voted for Trump. He basically held onto that base with a death grip.
How Many Women Voted for Kamala Across Different Races?
If you want to know how many women voted for Kamala, you have to look at the racial breakdown. This is where the Democratic base is most visible, but also where some of the biggest surprises popped up.
- Black Women: They remain the most loyal part of the Democratic coalition. About 9 in 10 Black women voted for Harris. It’s a staggering number, and honestly, the party would be in a much tougher spot without them.
- Latina Women: This is the one that’s keeping political scientists up at night. Harris won about 60% of Latinas, but that’s a sharp decline. In 2016, Hillary Clinton got 77%. In 2020, Biden got 67%. The trend line is moving toward the GOP, and it's moving fast.
- White Women: They actually went for Trump. Again. 53% of white women cast their ballot for the former president. People keep waiting for this group to flip, but it hasn't happened in decades.
Why Didn't Abortion Fix the Gap?
You’ve probably heard people say abortion was going to be the #1 issue. In some ways, it was. For women under 30, it was the top concern. But for a huge chunk of the electorate, the economy and inflation were the real heavy hitters.
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KFF polling showed that while women trusted Harris more on abortion by a 2-to-1 margin, they were split right down the middle on who could handle the "cost of living." When eggs are five bucks and rent is up 30%, a lot of voters—women included—started looking at their bank accounts more than the headlines.
The "Silent" Trump Female Voter
There’s also this cultural thing nobody really likes to talk about. Some women actually liked Trump’s "masculine" energy or felt that the Democratic party had become too focused on identity politics. In rural areas and "Evangelical Hubs," Trump won women by over 60 points. In those communities, shared religious or cultural values often trumped (no pun intended) gender solidarity.
What This Means for the Future
So, what do we do with this info? The 2024 results proved that you can't just run a "woman's campaign" and expect all women to follow. Issues like Social Security and caregiving actually moved the needle more for older women than the history-making nature of the candidacy itself.
If you're looking at the data, here are the real takeaways:
- Stop treating women as a single voting bloc. The needs of a 70-year-old retiree in Florida are nothing like a 22-year-old barista in Seattle.
- Economic messaging matters. You can't win on social issues alone if people feel they can't afford a house.
- The "Gender Gap" is narrowing. While women still lean Democrat, the margin is getting thinner, especially among Hispanic and younger voters.
What to do next:
If you're trying to understand the electorate better, don't just look at the national "53%" number. Dig into the state-level data in places like Pennsylvania or Arizona. You'll see that "how many women voted for Kamala" depends entirely on which zip code you're standing in. Check out the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers for the most detailed deep dives on these specific sub-groups.