Election 1994: Revenge of the white guys

Off Our Backs, Dec 1994 by Douglas, Carol Anne

the gender gap

The gender gap in the election was the greatest since 1982. Media exit polls reported in the Washington Post and the New York Times show that 54 percent of men voted for Republican House candidates, but only 45 percent of women did. Fifty-four percent of women voted for Democrats for the House, but only 46 percent of men did. If the vote is broken down to account for race, black women and men overwhelmingly voted Democratic. However, 55 percent of white women voted for Republicans, along with 62 percent of white men. (The reports of surveys did not mention the results for any race other than black or white.)

But white men are a minority, right? The problem is that a higher percentage of white men vote than of white women or people of color.

In Maryland, the gender gap took an interesting turn, with 59 percent of men voting for Ellen Sauerbrey, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who is anti-abortion but who focused on a promise to cut taxes, and 58 percent of women voting for Democrat Parris Glendening, a liberal man. White women's vote was split 50-50, while 63 percent of white men voted for Sauerbrey. Only one-third of black men and one-eighth of black women voted for Sauerbrey.

In Virginia, Ollie North got 46 percent of the men's vote, compared with 43 percent for Sen. Charles Robb (D) (there also was another candidate), women gave victory to Robb, voting 48 percent for him and 41 percent for North.

In Texas, a majority of women voted for Ann Richards, while two-thirds of the men voted for George Bush Jr.

In California, 58 percent of women voted for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), who barely won reelection. Fifty-seven percent of men voted for Republican millionaire Michael Huffington.

If the vote is broken down by religion, the pattern becomes even clearer. Sixty-five percent of white Protestant men voted for Republicans. White Catholic men used to vote Democratic, but 54 percent of them voted Republican in this election.

Although the Republicans claim that the public is desperate to cut taxes, slash all government spending except for the military, and spend more on weapons, voters responded coolly to tax limit initiatives in several states. Voters in Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota rejected tax limits; only in Nevada did voters endorse a tax limit. However, Arizona and Connecticut elected governors -- J. Fife Symington and John Rowland -- who say they will phase out income taxes.

According to the exit polls, crime was the issue that mattered most to voters, with 38 percent saying it was the most important issue for them. Strangely enough the Republicans, who have done all they could to maintain the right to own assault weapons, are generally considered to be tougher on crime. Among those who voted Republican, taxes and family/morality issues (we can guess what those are) followed crime in importance. For those who voted Democratic, it was health care and the economy and jobs.

Even though everyone we know is gasping in horror, apparently most of the country isn't. In follow-up polls done by the Washington Post, about half of the voters polled said the new Republican control of Congress was good. Polls taken by NBC said that 55 percent of the voters wanted the Republican-controlled Congress, not Clinton, to set the country's agenda.