Below are exit poll results conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International highlighting findings on gender.*
(Exit Poll data and overall returns as of 5pm, 11/8/12)
The Gender Gap: The difference between the percentages of women and men who support a given candidate, generally the leading or winning candidate. Even if women and men favor the same candidate, they may do so by different margins, resulting in a gender gap. We calculate the gender gap for each poll based on the votes of women and men who support the candidate leading in that poll.
Example: [%Women for Leading Candidate] – [%Men for Leading Candidate] = Gender Gap
The Women's Vote: The percentage point advantage that one candidate has over the other among women voters – that is, the difference in support for the major party candidates among women voters only.
Example: [%Women for Obama] – [%Women for Romney] = Women's Vote
* Exit Polls were only conducted in 31 states.
| State | Candidate | Party |
Overall |
Gender Gap |
Women's Vote |
Women |
Men |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZ | Jeff Flake Richard Carmona |
R D |
50% 45% |
8 pts. | +1% Carmona | 46% 47% |
54% 43% |
| CA | Elizabeth Emken Dianne Feinstein |
R D |
39% 62% |
7 pts. | +28% Feinstein | 36% 64% |
43% 57% |
| CT | Linda McMahon Chris Murphy |
R D |
43% 53% |
11 pts. | +21% Murphy | 39% 60% |
49% 49% |
| FL | Connie Mack Bill Nelson |
R D |
42% 55% |
8 pts. | +20% Nelson | 39% 59% |
47% 51% |
| IN | Richard Mourdock Joe Donnelly |
R D |
44% 50% |
6 pts. | +12% Donnelly | 41% 53% |
47% 47% |
| ME | Charlie Summers Cynthia Dill Angus King |
R D I |
31% 13% 53% |
1 pts. | N/A | 27% 16% 54% |
34% 10% 53% |
| MD | Daniel Bongino Ben Cardin |
R D |
27% 55% |
8 pts. | +35% Cardin | 24% 59% |
29% 51% |
| MA | Scott Brown Elizabeth Warren |
R D |
46% 54% |
12 pts. | +18% Warren | 41% 59% |
53% 47% |
| MI | Pete Hoekstra Debbie Stabenow |
R D |
38% 58% |
7 pts. | +26% Stabenow | 36% 62% |
42% 55% |
| MN | Kurt Bills Amy Klobuchar |
R D |
31% 65% |
13 pts. | +45% Klobuchar | 27% 72% |
35% 59% |
| MS | Roger Wicker Albert Gore |
R D |
57% 40% |
5 pts. | +10% Wicker | 55% 45% |
60% 35% |
| MO | Todd Akin Claire McCaskill |
R D |
39% 55% |
7 pts. | +20% McCaskill | 36% 58% |
43% 51% |
| MT | Denny Rehberg Jon Tester |
R D |
45% 49% |
6 pts. | +9% Tester | 42% 51% |
49% 45% |
| NV | Dean Heller Shelley Berkley |
R D |
46% 45% |
9 pts. | +6% Berkley | 42% 48% |
51% 41% |
| NJ | Joe Kyrillos Robert Menendez |
R D |
40% 58% |
8 pts. | +28% Menendez | 35% 63% |
44% 55% |
| NM | Heather Wilson Martin Heinrich |
R D |
45% 51% |
6 pts. | +11% Heinrich | 43% 54% |
48% 48% |
| NY | Wendy Long Kirsten Gillibrand |
R D |
27% 72% |
12 pts. | +55% Gillibrand | 22% 77% |
33% 65% |
| OH | Josh Mandel Sherrod Brown |
R D |
45% 50% |
8 pts. | +14% Brown | 42% 56% |
50% 48% |
| PA | Tom Smith Bob Casey |
R D |
45% 53% |
9 pts. | +18% Casey | 40% 58% |
50% 49% |
| VT | John McGovern Bernie Sanders |
R I |
25% 71% |
8 pts. | +54% Sanders | 21% 75% |
30% 67% |
| VA | George Allen Tim Kaine |
R D |
48% 52% |
7 pts. | +12% Kaine | 44% 56% |
51% 49% |
| WA | Michael Baumgartner Maria Cantwell |
R D |
40% 60% |
5 pts. | +24% Cantwell | 38% 62% |
43% 57% |
| WI | Tommy Thompson Tammy Baldwin |
R D |
46% 51% |
10 pts. | +15% Baldwin | 41% 56% |
51% 46% |