White suburban women — who played a decisive role in the Democrats taking over the House in the 2018 midterms and fueled Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win — have now swung decisively toward the right in the current election cycle.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the GOP now has a 15 percentage point advantage with this demographic, which makes up 20 percent of the electorate.
That represents a 27 point swing from the Journal’s August polling.
The economy appears to be driving the shift.
“We’re talking about a collapse, if you will, in that group on the perceptions of the economy,” Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said. Fabrizio conducted the poll with Democratic pollster John Anzalone.
The poll found that 74 percent of white suburban woman feel the economy is “heading in the wrong direction,” with 54 percent of white suburban women believing the country is already in a recession.
The Journal found the top issues with these voters to be rising prices (34 percent) followed by threats to democracy (28 percent) and the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade (16 percent).
Dana Gianassi of Lincoln, California, told the Journal that though she is an independent, who usually splits her ballot, she has already voted a straight Republican ticket this election.
“Right now I feel the Democrats are ruining our country,” she said.
Biden’s approval rating in the survey among suburban women was just 38 percent, down from 51 percent approval in August.
“If the 2024 election were between Mr. Biden and former President Donald Trump, 41 percent of white suburban women said they would vote for Mr. Biden and 52 percent Mr. Trump. In August, 55 percent said Mr. Biden and 39 percent Mr. Trump,” the Journal reported.
Former White House aide and Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” Tuesday that the polling shift among suburban women and Latinos indicated a “realignment” toward the GOP.
“The most important shift in that poll, according to The Wall Street Journal, is that suburban women — 20 percent of the electorate — have shifted 26 points to the Republicans. And working-class Latino voters are now also voting Republican,” said Conway, who successfully led former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016.
PA: ‘THE BELLWETHER OF BELLWETHERS’ @JoshKraushaar and @KellyannePolls on what states to watch on #ElectionNight a SHORT 7 days away:@DanaPerino @BillHemmer pic.twitter.com/QbTq1IofkE
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) November 1, 2022
“That’s not just a Republican wave, that’s a realignment of voters to a conservative philosophy,” Conway argued.
The Journal conducted its poll with 1,500 registered voters from Oct. 22 to 26.
The news outlet said, “The sample of white suburban women was smaller and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points or 8 percentage points on some of the policy questions.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.