On Tuesday night, five northeastern states that fall along an Amtrak rail line known as the “Acela” voted for the next Republican and Democratic presidential nominees. Women, again, played an interesting role in these elections.
Connecticut
The gender gap for Republicans has been more pronounced in a couple states since the race was whittled down to just three candidates. Fifty-seven percent of Republican voters in Connecticut were men, and just 43 percent were women. Both sexes voted overwhelmingly for business mogul Donald Trump, but men more so than women. Sixty-percent of male Republican voters in Connecticut voted for Trump and 55 percent of female voters chose the casino magnate. That’s a gender gap of 5 points.
John Kasich placed a distant second, with 27 percent of men and 31 percent of women voting for the Ohio governor.
Democrats had an even wider gender gap, with women making up 61 percent of Tuesday night’s primary voters and men making up just 39 percent. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ultimately won the state, won 57 percent of female voters. Men in the state, however, preferred her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with 55 percent voting for the Democratic socialist.
Clinton’s gender gap in the state was 14 points, much wider than Trump’s. But Clinton’s gender gap favored women.
Delaware
Delaware is another one of those states where no one bothered to get exit poll data.
Maryland
The gender gap in Maryland was smaller than it was in Connecticut or New York, and more in line with where it has been for the party in previous primaries. Fifty-two percent of GOP voters in the state were men, while 48 percent were women.
Again, both sexes voted for Trump. Fifty-nine percent of men and 50 percent of women voted for the business mogul — a gap of nine points. Kasich came in second, taking 23 percent of men and 23 percent of women in the state. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished in third place, with 17 percent of the male vote and 20 percent of the female vote.
Democrats again had a massive gender gap in voters, with 61 percent of primary voters being women and just 39 percent being men. Clinton ran away with the vote from both sexes, with 68 percent of women and 55 percent of men voting for the former first lady. That gives her a gender gap favoring women of 13 points, four points higher than Trump’s male-favored gender gap in the state.
Sanders did better with men than women. Forty percent of men and 29 percent of women favored the Vermont senator — a gender gap of 11 points.
Pennsylvania
Again, the gender gap for Republicans was fairly narrow, with 53 percent of primary voters being men and 47 percent being women. Yet again, Trump won both sexes. Sixty-one percent of men and 54 percent of women voted for Trump, a gender gap of 7 points.
Cruz came in second in the Keystone State, with 20 percent of the male vote and 23 percent of the female vote. Kasich came in third, with 18 percent of the male vote and 21 percent of the female vote.
Democrats continued to show a massive gap between the sexes — primary voters in Pennsylvania were 60 percent women and 40 percent men. The sexes split on the candidates, with 60 percent of women voting for Clinton but 50 percent of men voting for Sanders. Just 49 percent of men voted for Clinton and just 39 percent of women voted for Sanders. This again gives Clinton a wider gender gap than Trump — of 11 points.
Rhode Island
We also have no exit polls for Rhode Island, which is a shame, because Sanders won the state in the Democratic Party, and it would have been nice to know the gender breakdown of the results.
Correction: An earlier version included incorrect math for Trump’s gender gap in Connecticut. Trump had a smaller gender gap in the state than Clinton.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
