Republicans will support candidates who back abortion access
When asked if they would be more or less likely to support a Republican candidate for office who supported abortion access, close to half (47%) of Republicans said they would be much or somewhat more likely to support them. Only 20% of Republicans said they would be much less likely to support said candidate.
- 45% of R men and 48% of R women are much or somewhat more likely to support a Republican candidate who supports abortion access
- Only about 20% of republicans would be much less likely to support said candidate
- This is driven by younger republicans – 60% of Republicans under 50 are more likely to support the candidate compared to 35% of Republicans 50 or older
- 40% of Trump 2020 voters would increase likelihood of support, only 20% much less likely to support
- Around 60% of black men, Hispanic men, and Hispanic women would be more likely to support a republican who supported abortion access
Medication Abortion
As the battle on the abortion access shifts to issues such as access to medication abortion, our poll found that over half of women voters oppose restrictions on medication abortions. Close to half of Republican women are also against these laws.
- Only 27% of voters overall support restrictions on medication abortion, and only 30% of Republican women are in favor of such laws.
However, that does not mean that Republicans are interested in ensuring abortion access across all 50 states. Over 70% of Republicans, both men and women, would prefer to let each state decide if abortion should be legal or illegal.
- Independents are more evenly split on the issue, but they have a slight preference ( 55%) to ensuring access across all 50 states
- While a majority of Democrats support ensuring abortion access in all 50 states, There is a 10-point gender gap, 70% of Democratic women support ensuring access across all 50 states compared to 60% of Democratic men
- Younger women are also in favor of letting each state decide (59% for women 18-34, and 52% for women 35-49)
Voters want action, even if it means compromise
65% of voters overall prefer a politician who will get things done over one who will consistently fight for their values without finding solutions
- Democrats and Independents are more likely than Republicans to prefer compromise
However, Across all party affiliations, older voters (50 and over) prefer compromise more than younger voters do. The Republicans have a smaller age gap of around 10 points compared to 20 points among Democrats and Independents
- Young women 18-34 are the only group that prefers politicians to fight for their values instead of compromise, 56% to 44%
- There is a major gender gap among Hispanics on this question, 57% of Hispanic men want a politician who fights for their values compared to 22% of Hispanic women. At 78% Hispanic women favor compromise the most of any group
Methodology
The data was collected in partnership with the Emerson College Polling survey of US voters conducted January 19-21, 2023. The sample consisted of registered voters, n=1,015, with a margin of error (MOE) of +/- 3 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, party affiliation, and region based on 2024 registration modeling. It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics carry with them higher margins of error, as the sample size is reduced. Data was collected using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system of landlines and an online panel.
