Pollster Mallory Newall said Wednesday that women are speaking out more about elections in the wake of the “Me Too” movement and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
“I think there have been a lot of things in the past year that are motivating women to speak out in a new way. The first thing, of course, is the ‘Me Too’ movement,” Newall, director of research at Ipsos Public Affairs, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons’ on “What America’s Thinking.”
“We’re just after the [one] year anniversary of when Harvey Weinstein story broke, and you’re seeing a lot of women in our polls coming out and saying things like ‘it’s time for women to be believed, victims to be believed. It’s time for women to have a place at the table,'” she continued.
“And of course the Brett Kavanaugh hearings more recently is another example of this,” she said.
“Women are more comfortable sharing their opinions and saying it’s time to have some new representation, and some people that look like us, and look like people of color [to have] a seat at the table, and make laws in this country,” she said.
The “Me Too” movement led to a slew of influential men, Weinstein being the first, to be ousted from their jobs amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Numerous women also spoke out against Kavanaugh’s confirmation after three women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Women voters could play a major role in November’s midterm elections and tilt the scale toward Democrats.
A recent CNN poll released earlier this month found that 63 percent of women said they would vote for a Democrat in the midterms, and a third said they would vote for a Republican.
— Julia Manchester
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