Poll: Voters still hesitant about LGBT candidates

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A sizable number of U.S. voters say they’d have some hesitancy about supporting an LGBT candidate for president, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In fact, it’s an issue for many more than a candidate’s race or gender.

In the poll, 32 percent of registered voters said they would be less excited about supporting a presidential candidate who was gay, lesbian or bisexual; 42 percent said that about a transgender candidate. By contrast, only about 1 in 10 voters expressed such hesitance in regard to a candidate’s gender or race.

Yet many LGBT candidates have overcome such attitudes, even winning statewide elections, and political experts predict that the path for future LGBT office-seekers will steadily grow smoother.

One intriguing test case: the presidential campaign of Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., who has gained significant support with minimal controversy over the fact that he’s gay.

“While the polling data shows there is still reluctance to vote for an LGBT candidate among a minority of the electorate, that reluctance has been steadily declining,” said Professor Charles Franklin, a pollster at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “There are more success stories demonstrating that LGBT candidates can win despite this disadvantage.”

He cited two LGBT candidates who won statewide races in swing states last year: Democrats Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, easily re-elected to the U.S. Senate, and Jared Polis of Colorado, the first openly gay man elected governor.

The poll finds that Republican voters are especially likely to show resistance to LGBT candidates. But even among Democrats, 18 percent said they’d be less excited to vote for a gay, lesbian or bisexual candidate. Older Democrats and those who describe themselves as moderates or conservatives were more likely to have reservations than their younger and more liberal counterparts.

David Flaherty, a Republican pollster in Colorado, said generational demographics likely are to be pivotal in making it easier for LGBT candidates to win, given that voters under 45 are far more open to them.

“That 32 percent is not an insurmountable hurdle,” Flaherty said. “A lot of it is the 65 and older voters. As those folks pass on, sexual orientation will be an afterthought in future elections.”

He said sexual orientation never became a major issue during the governor’s campaign in Colorado by Polis, who won by 10 percentage points over his Republican opponent with strong support from young and independent voters.

It’s a trend that has unfolded over many years. In a recent Gallup poll, 76 percent of Americans expressed a willingness to vote for a gay or lesbian presidential candidate, up from 26 percent when Gallup first asked the question in 1978.