Many New Jersey men uneasy at idea of female president, poll finds

A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll finds gender considerations may be a significant factor in the presidential race.

The thought of a female president is influencing how New Jersey residents would vote in a race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, according to Dan Cassino, poll research director.

“With men — when we bring up gender roles — conservative men, moderate men become much more likely to support Donald Trump and less likely to support Clinton,” he said. “And liberal women become more likely to support Clinton and less likely to support Trump.”

The gender factor could cost Clinton as much as 8 percent of the vote in New Jersey, Cassino said..

“We did a very similar study in 2008 with Barack Obama looking at the effect of race,” he said. “We found that it seemed to be costing Barack Obama three or four points in New Jersey, and, in this election, we’re finding effects of gender that are almost twice as big.”

Gender considerations could have even more of an effect in states with a larger number of conservative male voters, Cassino said.

He added that Trump’s unfavorable ratings among voters mean the gender factor is not likely to doom Clinton’s chances of winning the White House.