Political analyst: White, suburban women are ‘fleeing the Trump party’

Political analyst Bill Schneider said Thursday that white, suburban women increasingly want nothing to do with President Trump, and are “fleeing the Trump party” ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“My gut is that you’re seeing a lot of affluent, white suburban voters, well-educated, particularly women, fleeing the Trump party,” Schneider told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.”

“They don’t want to have anything to do with Donald Trump, especially now. They don’t like him. They don’t like his attitude. They don’t like the way he governs. His signature attitude is defiance, that is what defines him, and that’s very ugly,” he continued. 

Republicans face an uphill battle leading up to the midterms to defend a raft of previously safe GOP congressional districts.

Recent polls have shown Trump and Republicans struggling with the types of suburban, moderate voters needed for the party to retain the House. The party’s struggle to appeal to suburban districts could be further exacerbated by a loss of white, women voters.  

White suburban women have appeared to vote more Democratic ahead of the midterms, including in hotly contested elections like that of Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. The district, which had been solidly Republican since 1983 and which Trump won by 11 points in 2016, has yet to declare a winner.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this year showed support for Republicans maintaining control of Congress dipped among suburbanites polled, dropping 7 points from 50 percent in February to 43 percent in March. 

The same survey found that Republican support among white voters in the sample dropped 3 points since March. 

— Julia Manchester


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