While women outnumber men in the U.S., less than a third of political donors are female, according to an analysis of donor data by Crowdpac, a start-up that tracks donations. And of those pols who do receive financial support from women, most are female Democrats.
With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Hillary Clinton receives a little over half of her donations from women (50.2%, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group tracking money in politics). But how much do the Republican candidates, most of whom are male, get from their female constituents?
Mother Jones looked at the gender breakdown of the GOP donors using the Center’s data (which includes those who donated $200 or more) and came to a not-so-shocking conclusion: Donald Trump comes in dead last.
Trump, who received the least contributions of any candidate by far, also had the smallest percentage of contribution from female donors, at just 18%. Interestingly, the candidate who was most favored by female contributors was Ben Carson, who received about 39% of his funds from women.
The gender breakdown of remainder of the other top siz GOP candidates’ funds aligned with the overall donor breakdown: Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz all received about a third of their donations from women.
Apparently, female donors aren’t quick to forget Trump’s history of insults to women, which have included words like “pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” to quote Fox new anchor Megyn Kelly.
For comparison, 44% of President Barack Obama’s donations came from women in 2012, vs. 28% from Mitt Romney. In 2008, Obama received 42% of contributions from women, compared to John McCain’s 28%.
If history is any guide, presidential hopefuls need to get female donors on board.