A new poll shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gaining on Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican presidential race. But what is perhaps more striking about the survey, by CNN and Opinion Research, is the large gender gap in Romney’s support — and the even larger gender gap in Perry’s. More women than men support Romney, and far more men than women support Perry.
Overall, CNN found that Perry leads Romney by a margin of 30 percent to 22 percent. But that lead is the smallest in the CNN poll since Perry entered the GOP race August 13. In a poll taken August 24-25, Perry led Romney by 14 points. In a poll taken September 9-11, Perry led by 11 points. In the new poll, it’s eight points.
A look inside the numbers reveals significant differences in the frontrunners’ support. Perry has the support of 36 percent of men in the survey of Republicans, and 24 percent of women — a 12-point gender gap. Romney has the support of 19 percent of men and 26 percent of women, for a seven-point gap.
The only other candidate with a noticeable gender gap is Florida GOP straw poll winner Herman Cain, who has the support of 11 percent of men and seven percent of women, for a four-point gap. The other candidates have no significant gender gaps at all — nothing more than two points. In a result that might surprise some observers, both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have the support of slightly more women than men, which is also the case with Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. But Jon Huntsman is favored by a few more men than women, although the number of women who support Huntsman in the new poll is not actually large enough to measure, and Huntsman’s support overall does not reach outside the margin of error.
The other significant gap between Perry and Romney is in the area of education. If you survey only Republicans who have attended college, the two men are tied at 27 percent each. But if you survey GOP voters who have no college, Perry has a commanding lead, 34 percent to 15 percent.
