On Impeachment, Most Texas Voters Have Chosen Sides. Women In The Suburbs Are Most Persuadable.

Finding an undecided voter is like finding a “three-legged cat.”

By Rhonda FanningJanuary 27, 2020 6:56 am

Reactions to the impeachment of President Donald Trump have mostly fallen along party lines, especially among the Senators who must decide whether he will be removed from office. But that might not be the case when it comes to women voters in Texas.

The Houston Chronicle and other Hearst newspapers in Texas have been investigating how Texas women feel about the impeachment, and Andrea Zelinski, a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, says many women have changed their voting behavior in recent years, which means their feelings about impeachment are less predictable.

“In the last election, we saw some flippage, particularly [among] women in the suburbs,” Zelinski says. “Both parties are really trying to capture their attention.”

Zelinski says her reporting shows that women are “pushed to the edges” by the impeachment.

“When I do find somebody in the middle, it’s kind of like a three-legged cat,” she says, meaning it’s rare.

She also says that people who see merit in arguments from either side of the impeachment battle are less willing to speak about their opinions on the record.

Most people who have chosen a side are committed to that position, and are consuming news from sources that align with their beliefs, Zelinski says.

The implication for the 2020 elections is that both parties will focus on energizing voters who agree with their stances. And they’ll likely target another small slice of the electorate: A recent poll found that 6% of female voters are truly independent, and could be swayed to vote for one party or the other, Zelinski says.

A resolution to the impeachment trial likely won’t change many Texas voters’ minds. But Zelinksi says those voters who are persuadable are mostly in the suburbs.

 

Written by Shelly Brisbin.