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Race, Gender Biggest Differentiators in Views of Clinton, Trump
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Race, Gender Biggest Differentiators in Views of Clinton, Trump

The demographic compositions of the two major political parties in America today are well-established, and naturally enough, it follows that the demographic profiles of those who have favorable opinions of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would follow along these same lines. They do.

But it is worth looking at these differences in detail. They help us understand the dramatically different ways in which the two presumptive major party nominees are viewed across segments of U.S. society today. And that in turn helps us understand just how differently this election context can appear from one group of Americans to the other.

I'm looking here at the favorability ratings of Clinton and Trump among a wide variety of population segments created by various combinations of race and ethnicity, gender, education, religion, region of residence, income and marital status -- based on May 1-24 interviews with more than 11,600 Americans. Overall, for this time period, Clinton had an average favorable rating of 40% and Trump, an average favorable rating of 33%, for a +7 Clinton advantage.

The differences in views of Clinton and Trump across segments, as noted, are huge. The single population segment (of those tested) with the biggest difference is non-Hispanic blacks, among whom 69% have a favorable view of Clinton and only 11% have a favorable view of Trump. At the other end of the spectrum, 25% of white men have a favorable view of Clinton and 49% a favorable view of Trump. That's a 44-percentage-point swing in opinions of Clinton, and a 38-point swing in opinions of Trump. Although it exaggerates the differences, we can say that the swing in the gap in favorable ratings between the two extreme groups is 82 points (+58 Clinton among blacks and +24 Trump among white men).

Here is the basic table, listed in rank order of the Clinton-Trump favorable gap:

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump by Demographic Group
% with favorable opinion
Hillary Clinton Donald Trump Clinton minus Trump
(pct. pts.)
Non-Hispanic black 69% 11% 58
Nonwhite female 65% 9% 56
Nonwhite non-college grad 61% 13% 48
Nonwhite college grad 62% 17% 45
Hispanic 58% 14% 44
Domestic partnership/Living with partner (not legally married) 57% 19% 38
Nonwhite male 57% 19% 38
Muslim 53% 17% 36
Identify as LGBT 54% 18% 36
Asian 51% 18% 33
Jewish 56% 26% 30
Unmarried woman 48% 20% 28
Separated 50% 23% 27
Postgraduate 50% 24% 26
Less than $24,000/year 50% 25% 25
Female, 18-49 44% 20% 24
No religion/Atheist/Agnostic 43% 21% 22
Female 45% 26% 19
Pacific 44% 25% 19
Single/Never been married 41% 24% 17
Not religious 42% 26% 16
Female, 50+ 47% 32% 15
Divorced 46% 31% 15
30-49 42% 29% 13
18-29 33% 21% 12
Middle Atlantic 45% 33% 12
Have children under 18 41% 29% 12
New England 43% 32% 11
Catholic 46% 35% 11
Married woman 42% 32% 10
Moderately religious 44% 35% 9
East Central/Great Lakes 40% 31% 9
College graduate 40% 31% 9
White college grad 39% 31% 8
Southwest 40% 32% 8
High school or less 41% 33% 8
Widowed 44% 36% 8
$24,000/year-less than $60,000/year 39% 32% 7
Have children (all ages) 41% 35% 6
50-64 42% 39% 3
Married with children under 18 37% 34% 3
Unmarried man 37% 35% 2
Southeast 39% 37% 2
White female 36% 34% 2
West Central 36% 34% 2
$90,000+/year 38% 36% 2
Male, 18-49 33% 32% 1
65+ 42% 42% 0
$60,000/year-less than $90,000/year 36% 36% 0
Married 37% 38% -1
Highly religious 35% 37% -2
Protestant/Other Christian 36% 38% -2
Some college 34% 37% -3
Rocky Mountain 30% 34% -4
Male 34% 40% -6
Non-Hispanic White 30% 41% -11
Mormon 21% 33% -12
Married man 32% 45% -13
Male, 50+ 36% 49% -13
Veteran household 29% 49% -20
White non-college grad 26% 47% -21
White male 25% 49% -24
May 1-24, 2016

One thing immediately clear is the extraordinary role that Americans' race and ethnicity play in determining how they view these two candidates. Six of the nine segments with the largest favorable gap in favor of Clinton include a race/ethnicity component, and the two segments with the largest favorable gap in favor of Trump are defined, in part, by race as well.

Overall, the tendencies in these data are clear. Those most differentially positive toward Clinton (over Trump) are those who identify themselves with any race or ethnic category other than non-Hispanic white, women, those who are not married, LGBT identifiers, any religious group that is not Protestant or Mormon, those who are not religious and those with lower incomes.

Naturally, combinations of these demographic categories produce the most extremely different views. Combining the racial category of being white with the gender category of being male produces the strongest pro-Trump category tested. On the other hand, combining the racial category of being nonwhite with the gender category of being female produces the second-strongest pro-Clinton category tested.

At the risk of overgeneralization, we can say that the typical American who really likes Clinton and doesn't like Trump is a black, Hispanic or Asian female living outside the bounds of a traditional marriage and who is unreligious. The typical American who really likes Trump and doesn't like Clinton is a white male who is traditionally married, religious, and a Protestant or Mormon.

Author(s)

Frank Newport, Ph.D., is a Gallup Senior Scientist. He is the author of Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People and God Is Alive and Well. Twitter: @Frank_Newport


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/191918/race-gender-biggest-differentiators-views-clinton-trump.aspx
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