An Economist/YouGov poll shows that swing voters align with Republican voters on transgender issues, giving GOP politicians a powerful campaign issue in 2024.
Seventy-two percent of Republicans strongly oppose the end of single-sex sports while 25 percent of Democrat voters strongly support allowing males to play in women’s sports, according to the April 8-11 poll.
Meanwhile, 43 percent of swing-voting independents strongly oppose males participating in women’s sports, and 11% somewhat oppose it — while just 14 percent strongly support the Democrats’ push to end women’s sports, says the poll of 1,500 adults.
The “strongly” percentages are important because they shape voting decisions. Respondents who provided poll answers such as “somewhat support” and “somewhat oppose” are unlikely to focus on that issue during an election.
So the “strongly” numbers suggest that Republican candidates who tactfully focus on the impact of transgenderism can turn out their base voters — and win over an important slice of swing voters.
The poll also suggests that transgender issues involving children and women’s sports are more important to Republicans and swing voters than they are to Democrats, as Democrat voters were more divided in the percentages.
Another poll question reveals that 58 percent of Republicans strongly support “requiring K-12 schools to inform parents if their child requests to go by different pronouns while at school,” with 38 percent of swing voters saying they strongly support it as well.
Meanwhile, just 23 percent of Democrats said they strongly support it.
A third question in the poll asked respondents if they support or oppose “schools banning books with stories about transgender youth.”
This question was worded bizarrely, which could have resulted in skewed answers, as it referred to removing transgender propaganda from schools as “book banning.”
Fifty percent of Republicans said they strongly support removing transgender propaganda in schools, with 25 percent of swing voters agreeing and only 16 percent of Democrats saying they strongly support it.
Another question asked respondents if they support or oppose parents allowing their children who believe they are the opposite sex to take puberty-blocking drugs.
Sixty-four percent of Republicans said they strongly oppose it, with 37 percent of swing voters concurring, while merely 17 percent of Democrats said they strongly oppose it.
Again, this poll question was worded strangely — which could have resulted in skewed responses — asking respondents if they support or oppose “allowing parents to provide their transgender children or teenagers with puberty-blocking drugs, which can temporarily prevent the effects of puberty that may not align with their gender identity.”
Notably, the poll did not ask any straightforward core questions such as “Can someone change their sex?” “Are puberty-blocking drugs risky?” or “Should the government enforce transgender preferences?”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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