What a whirlwind that GOP primary was, huh? Who would have thought that a contest among 17 people would end quicker than a contest among five people?
The Democratic primary is still going, as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came from being behind in the polls to winning the state over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. For Republicans, businessman Donald Trump won, as predicted. This caused Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who had been in second place in terms of delegates — to suspend his campaign. Ohio Gov. John Kasich suspended his campaign Wednesday morning, making him the last candidate to drop out even as he placed fourth in delegate totals. (Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out in March, was still beating Kasich.)
So let’s take a look at how women voted.
The Republican Party returned to a more narrow gender gap, with 53 percent of the primary electorate made up of men and 47 percent made up of women. Both sexes voted for Trump. More men than women voted for Trump, 59 percent to 47 percent. That’s a gender gap of 12 points.
Cruz came in second, but it was a distant second with men (33 percent) and a closer second with women (41 percent voted for the Texas senator).
The Democratic primary electorate faced a much wider gender gap, as has been the norm this election. Fifty-nine percent of Democratic primary voters in Indiana were women, and just 41 percent were men, for a gender gap of 18 points.
Sanders won over 57 percent of men, but women split evenly with women. Sanders doesn’t usually do this well with women voters in close elections, but it could be a sign that Clinton isn’t going to run away with the female vote as easily as she thought.
The Republican primary has effectively ended, but Democrats will face off next in California, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
