Honestly, if you spent any time on social media leading up to November, you probably thought the 2024 election was going to be the "Year of the Woman." The narrative was everywhere. Pundits talked about a massive "gender canyon" fueled by reproductive rights that would carry Kamala Harris to a comfortable win.
But elections are rarely that simple.
When the dust finally settled, the reality of what percentage of women vote democrat 2024 turned out to be a lot more nuanced—and for the Harris campaign, a bit more sobering—than the pre-election hype suggested. While women did favor the Democratic ticket, the "blue wave" of female voters wasn't as towering as it was in 2020.
The Raw Numbers: What Percentage of Women Vote Democrat 2024?
Let's look at the hard data. According to the Edison Research exit polls and the AP VoteCast survey, Kamala Harris won approximately 53% to 54% of women.
On the flip side, about 45% to 46% of women cast their ballots for Donald Trump.
Now, if you’re thinking, "Wait, didn't Joe Biden do better?" you're right. In 2020, Biden secured about 57% of the female vote. Harris saw a roughly 3-to-4-point drop-off. It’s a small shift in percentage points, but in an election decided by razor-thin margins in swing states, that movement is basically a tectonic shift.
Men, for comparison, went heavily for Trump, with about 55% backing the Republican ticket. This created a 10-point gender gap. It’s a significant gap, sure, but it’s actually smaller than some experts predicted. We didn't see a massive surge of women running away from the GOP; instead, we saw a slight but critical drift toward it.
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The Myth of the Monolith
The biggest mistake people make is talking about "the women's vote" like it’s one big, cohesive club. It isn't. Not even close. If you want to understand what percentage of women vote democrat 2024, you have to slice the data by race, education, and even religion.
Black Women: The Most Loyal Base
Black women remained the bedrock of the Democratic Party. Period. Roughly 91% to 92% of Black women voted for Harris. This group has consistently been the most reliable Democratic constituency for decades. While there was a lot of talk about Black men drifting toward Trump, Black women largely stayed the course.
The Shift Among Latinas
This is where things got "kinda" spicy for political analysts. In 2020, Biden won Latinas by a massive margin—somewhere around 69%. In 2024, that support dipped significantly. Harris still won a majority, about 60% to 61%, but Trump made undeniable gains. For many of these voters, the "kitchen table" issues like the cost of eggs and gas seemed to outweigh the cultural messaging of the Democratic platform.
White Women and the Education Divide
White women are the largest voting bloc, and they are notoriously split.
- College-educated white women: This group moved further toward the Democrats. Harris won them by a margin of about 17 points.
- Non-college-educated white women: This group stayed firmly in Trump's camp. More than 6 in 10 voted Republican.
It’s basically two different worlds. If you have a degree and live in a suburb, you probably voted Democrat. If you don't and live in a more rural area, you likely went GOP.
Why Didn’t the "Abortion Effect" Do More?
Everyone thought the Dobbs decision would be the silver bullet. And in some ways, it was. Among voters who said abortion was their #1 issue, Harris won about 76% of them. The problem? Only about 14% of the total electorate said abortion was their top priority.
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Most people—women included—were more worried about the economy.
When you ask what percentage of women vote democrat 2024, you're really asking about priorities. For a huge chunk of women, the "state of democracy" or "abortion access" felt like luxury concerns compared to the immediate reality of inflation.
The Religion Factor
We can't ignore the pews. White evangelical women voted for Trump in massive numbers—roughly 80%. This was actually an increase from 2020. Meanwhile, women with no religious affiliation (the "nones") went for Harris at a rate of nearly 80%.
It’s a mirror image. Your Sunday morning routine (or lack thereof) was one of the strongest predictors of your vote in 2024.
Age Matters (But Maybe Not Like You Think)
Young women (18-29) were still the most Democratic-leaning age group, with about 61% backing Harris. But even here, there was a slight slide. In 2020, that number was higher.
The most surprising stat? The only group of women that actually increased their support for the Democratic ticket compared to 2020 was women over the age of 65. Seniors are often seen as more conservative, but in 2024, they were the ones most likely to stick with the incumbent party's VP.
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What This Means for the Future
So, what are the takeaways?
First, Democrats can't take women for granted. The "gender gap" is real, but it’s not a guarantee.
Second, the "suburban woman" isn't a single character. There’s a massive cultural and economic gap between a woman with a Master's degree in a "College Town" and a woman working two jobs in the "Exurbs."
If you're looking for the actionable "so what" here:
- Watch the "Kitchen Table" Issues: Future Democratic candidates need to figure out how to talk about the price of groceries as effectively as they talk about social rights.
- Focus on the Education Gap: The divide between degree holders and non-degree holders is becoming the primary fault line in American politics, even among women.
- Don't Ignore the "Religious Nones": As the number of secular Americans grows, they are becoming the "evangelicals" of the Democratic Party—a solid, reliable base that can't be ignored.
The 2024 data shows that while a majority of women still vote Democrat, the party's grip on that majority is getting a little looser in places they can't afford to lose.
Next Steps for Further Research:
To get a deeper look at your specific area, you should check the U.S. Census Bureau’s official voting and registration tables, which provide the most accurate breakdown of turnout by state and demographic. Additionally, reviewing the Pew Research Center’s "validated voter" studies (usually released a few months after the election) will give you the most reliable data on who actually showed up at the polls versus who just told pollsters they did.