On Tuesday night, as Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe eked out a win over Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia gubernatorial race, both the media and reproductive rights organizations heralded his victory as a win for and by women. Exit polls revealed that while 45 percent percent percent of men voted for McAuliffe, 51 percent percent percent of women did, revealing a gender gap of six percentage points. But if we dig deeper, we begin to see a recurring trend within that gender gap and the gender gap of recent presidential elections: it is women of color, particularly black women, who help drive it.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=206443