Is there a political divide among Gainesville’s men and women?
Twenty-year-old Allison Wilcox said she has a dirty secret. While she's never worn a MAGA hat or waved a Trump flag, she'd love to see the former president return to the White House.
The Santa Fe College nursing junior believes she's part of the "silent minority" of women backing Donald Trump. Her fellow female Republicans, she said, keep their politics close to the vest.
"I've known friends for years who I just found out are conservative just because they didn't want to vocalize that, because they're afraid of the social backlash," Wilcox said.
The issues that are most important to her are the economy and immigration. Wilcox said she's also a staunch supporter of Israel, which she believes puts her at odds with Kamala Harris.
Wilcox said she doesn't agree with everything Trump says, how he says it or what he stands for, but she's willing to vote for him anyway on a slate of tax, border and foreign policy positions.
Still, a majority of women align with the Democratic Party. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University national poll reported that 53% of participating women decisively back Kamala Harris, while only 37% of men do. The reverse is true of the discrepancy between women and men supporting Trump.
If the polling data holds up come Nov. 5, a 16% difference between men and women voters would produce the largest gender gap in a presidential election on record. In past races, votes between candidates were more evenly split between men and women.
Tim Marden, chairman of the Alachua County Republican Party, doesn't believe in the political gender gap. He said he encounters a similar share of men and women at Republican rallies.
"Some of the discussions surrounding gender divisiveness and things like that are more on the created news side than the actual view of the landscape of what's happening," he said. "I think men and women alike that I'm around are both equally conservative."
About 43% of women say they plan to vote for Trump this election cycle, compared with 54% of men.
Women have been a reliable Democratic voting bloc for 40 years. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, they have drifted further to the political left . Nearly four in 10 women rank reproductive healthcare as their No. 1 issue this election. Voters trust Harris over Trump by 30 points in handling abortion.
Bodily autonomy and LGBTQ rights are at the top of Kiley Rydberg's mind. The 21-year-old UF family youth and community sciences junior said she's backing Kamala Harris.
Rydberg attributed the widening gender gap in American politics to an entrenched fear men have of ceding control to women.
"Putting other women in power, I feel like it does kind of scare them a little bit," she said.
Susan Bottcher, a member of the Alachua County Democratic Executive Committee, agreed with Rydberg. Bottcher said Trump appeals to men who are uncomfortable with the idea of a woman at the helm of government.
"They find it so difficult to have a woman as a supervisor or a boss, or, you know, heaven forbid, president of the United States," she said. "[Men think] if you vote for a woman, somehow, something's going to be taken away from you."
UF associate professor of women's studies Trysh Travis said Trump's demeanor and rhetoric repel young women.
"Even progressive women who are not pearl-clutching old ladies like myself have been sort of more generally appalled by Trump's just boorish and aggressive stupidity," she said.
The former president has turned up the dial in recent public appearances, deviating from his campaign's prepared remarks to crack jokes or hurl expletives at his opponents.
Travis said what alienates young women from Trump captivates a growing number of their male counterparts. Those disillusioned with traditional politics may find Trump's behavior and message compelling .
"[It's] telling men, 'We have the solution, and if you trust us, we will make everything right again, and you will have the earning power and the social authority and respect that you believe is your due as an American man,'" she said.
In the final sprint to the White House, Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, have starred on nine podcasts with predominantly male listenerships. The episodes pander to young men's interests , ranging from wrestling and golf to cocaine and conspiracy theories.
Trump has decidedly reached a wider audience than Harris, drawing over 25 million views on YouTube broadcasts of the podcasts.
Nineteen-year-old UF Pi Sigma Alpha president Zane Menendez has listened to several podcasts featuring Trump. He said that although the episodes aren't politically substantive, they've helped the campaign gain traction with men under 30.
"I feel like playing at that is an interesting way of trying to get votes from people who aren't necessarily concerned with what's at stake but more about what's cool," he said.
More than 100,000 Alachua County residents have already cast their ballots. Data indicate women across Florida are outpacing men in early voting. According to a news analysis of turnout data by Fresh Take Florida, about 54% of early voting ballots cast by Friday were women's, with Republican women leading turnout.
