Less than a month before the midterm elections, an important new nationwide survey finds women voters less hopeful, more frustrated, and more pessimistic about the economy than they were a year ago. 

Women are breaking for Democrats on the Congressional ballot, the survey found, and they want to see more women in legislatures. However, looking ahead two years, more than one in five say they would not vote for a qualified woman running for president. 

The poll of 815 registered female voters was conducted October 5–6, 2026 by Tavern Research in conjunction with the non-partisan Women & Politics Institute's (WPI) Gender on the Ballot project at American University’s School of Public Affairs, builds on last year's She Leads survey.  

“Women voters are telling us they want more women in elected office, and they trust them on the issues weighing on their everyday lives -- childcare, healthcare, and the economy,” said Lucy Gettman, acting executive director of the Women & Politics Institute. “But they also see what stands in the way of electing women: media scrutiny, an old boys' club culture, threats of violence, and now AI-generated fakes. Understanding the gap between the support women leaders have and the barriers they face is exactly why this work matters.” 

Women voters back women leaders broadly, but the bar for a woman president is high, and getting higher. 

• Twenty two percent of women voters say they are not open to voting for a qualified woman for president in a general election, up from 19% in 2025. The total includes 30% of Republican and independent women and 11% of Democratic women.  

• Among those who are most likely to favor female leaders on the issues, women ages 18–34 are the least open to a woman president: 32% say they are not open, compared with 19–21% of older women. 

• The first female president is still imagined narrowly: 87% picture a mother, 79% a married woman, 86% someone under 65, and 71% a multi-term member of Congress or governor.  

• Women voters trust women in elected office as much or more than then trust men on all 15 issues tested. 

• Seventy two percent trust the information and decisions of women in elected office a “great deal” or “some,” compared with 46% for men in office. 

• The widest gaps are seen on issues related to women's equality (60% trust women more, 5% men), childcare (52% to 6%), healthcare (43% to 5%), LGBTQ+ issues (40% to 8%), racial equality (35% to 6%), climate change (33% to 7%), and the economy (32% to 8%). 

• Sixty five percent say that there are too few women in elected office, up from 58% in 2025. Among Republican women, four in ten say there are too few, up from 31% in 2024. 

Women voters are in a darker mood than a year ago, and they are breaking for Democrats this November. 

• Only 23% of women voters say they feel hopeful about how things are going in the country, down from 34% in 2025, while 38% feel frustrated, up from 29%.  

• Fifty-nine percent are feeling pessimistic about the economy over the next 12 months, compared with 48% in 2025. 

• Fifty-nine percent view President Trump unfavorably, up from 53% last year, and Republicans in Congress have lost even more ground (57% unfavorable, up from 49%). 

• Women voters favor the generic Democratic candidate over the Republican (47% to 36%), with 10% unsure, 3% backing a third-party or independent candidate, and 4% saying they will probably not vote. Independent women (26%) and women under 35 (19%) are the most likely to be undecided. 

AI fakes and traditional barriers keep women from running for office. 

• Sixty-five percent say negative media portrayalS deter women from running for office, 63% cite an "old boys' club" culture; and 62% say violence or threats of violence. 

• “Women are frustrated and pessimistic heading into the midterms, and right now that frustration is breaking toward Democrats,” said Viva de Vicq, Senior Researcher at Tavern Research. “Hope is down 11 points from last year, nearly 6 in 10 are pessimistic about the economy, and women favor Democrats on the House ballot by 11 points. Looking towards 2028, fewer women see it as the most important election of their lifetime, and the bar for the first woman president keeps rising: two-thirds say she has to be both tough and likable, and more than 1 in 5 say they wouldn’t vote for a qualified woman at all. On top of that, there’s a new technology barrier. Majorities in every party say AI fakes would keep women from running in the first place.” 

Methodology 

The survey of 815 women registered voters nationwide was conducted online by Tavern Research October 5–6, 2026. Results were weighted by race, 2024 presidential vote, education and age, and by whether respondents passed attention checks. The margin of error for the dataset overall is ±5.2 percentage points. Questions asked of half the sample, and results for subgroups such as party, age and race, carry larger margins of error. Year-over-year comparisons refer to women respondents in the September 3–6, 2025 She Leads survey of registered voters (n=400 RV women, ±3.5%).