According to new data from Pew Research Center, Americans have grown increasingly less confident that the country will be led by a woman president in their lifetime.
In 2023, just under half of all American adults said it is somewhat likely that the United States will elect a woman as president at some point in their life. At that time, roughly a quarter of Americans said it is not too or not at all likely and another quarter said it is extremely or very likely.
In 2026, the share who say it is extremely or very likely to happen has declined to just 17 percent and the share who say it is somewhat likely to happen has dropped to 44 percent. In contrast, the share who believe a woman will not be elected president in their lifetime jumped to 37 percent.
Less than one-fifth of American adults say electing a woman president in their lifetime is extremely or very important to them personally, while 16 percent say its somewhat important and 66 percent say it is not too or not at all important or that the president’s gender doesn’t matter.
Some 39 percent of women say electing a woman president in their lifetime is at least somewhat important to them personally, with 22 percent saying it is very or extremely important. Among men, 27 percent say it is at least somewhat important, with 12 percent describing it as very or extremely important.
The divide in this opinion is even wider based on political affiliation. More than half of Democrats say is important to them personally that a woman is elected president of the United States in their lifetime, with 30 percent saying it is very or extremely important. Among Republicans, 13 percent say electing a woman president is important to them personally. Only 5 percent of Republicans say it is very or extremely important to them.
Democratic women are the most likely group to say it is very or extremely important to them that the U.S. elects a woman as president in their lifetime (37 percent). Some 22 percent of Democratic men, 6 percent of Republican women, and 3 percent of Republican men say the same.