Women of Color Played a Big Part in President Barack Obama’s Re-Election

A new CAP issue brief details the importance of women of color in the 2012 presidential election.

Part of a Series

Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

Coming out of the 2012 presidential election, women’s role in determining its outcome—the so-called gender gap—was a dominant narrative. Women played a large part in President Barack Obama’s re-election, with 55 percent voting for him compared to 44 percent supporting his Republican rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

A parallel narrative last November was that of the potential of the rising electorate—the demographic populations that are increasingly becoming larger segments of the voting-eligible population—influencing election outcomes. Women of color are a particularly important demographic because they stand at the center of the intersection between the rising electorate and the women’s vote.

For more on this topic, please see:

A Dual Disenfranchisement: 2013 Update by Liz Chen

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