Women did not save Harris

The economy, inflation, plays a major role.

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He needed their support, but it wasn't enough: Kamala Harris failed to get as many women to back her as she had hoped, despite a presidential campaign heavily focused on abortion access, in the face of Donald Trump's macho rhetoric.

Exit polls conducted by CNN showed that the Democratic vice-president had an eight-point advantage among women voters but that was nearly half what Joe Biden had mustered four years ago.

On the flip side, the Republican once and future president, Donald Trump, had a 13-point lead over his rival with men, as opposed to an eight-point boost when he faced Biden in 2020.

"I think there were high expectations going into the election about how women would vote," said Sabrina Karim, a professor at Cornell University.

"But it is always important to remember that women are not a monolithic group... their concerns are multifaceted."

The CNN exit poll shows Harris' dominance with black women voters, for example, while Trump did better with white women.

"The Harris campaign's strong focus on abortion likely energized some women to vote, but a single issue was not enough to bring a diverse range of women to vote.