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New Mexico Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham went full feminist, declaring that Democrats don’t need male votes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf women, Democratic women, just show up and vote, we\u2019re good. We don\u2019t need any of the men.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Grisham made the remarks during a Democratic National Committee meeting on Thursday, focused on preparations for the 2028 presidential election.<\/p>\n As provocative as the remark may sound, the electoral trends behind it are real. <\/span>Democrats are increasingly dependent on women voters, who have been the driving force behind many of the party’s recent victories.<\/span><\/p>\n Democratic governors Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ) both won overwhelming support from women while receiving far weaker support from men. Spanberger won the support of <\/span>65%<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 of women voters but just 48% of men. Sherrill posted a similar divide, carrying <\/span>62%<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 of women while receiving support from 49% of men.<\/span><\/p>\n The broader electorate reflects the same pattern. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, women are substantially more likely than men to identify with the Democratic Party. Women also vote at higher rates than men. In the 2024 election, approximately <\/span>91.3 million<\/span><\/a> women cast ballots, compared with 82.6 million men.<\/span><\/p>\n Experts have spent decades trying to explain the growing gender gap.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWomen consistently rank healthcare, education, and social safety nets as top priorities, while men more frequently emphasize economic growth, national security, and fiscal responsibility,\u201d <\/span>writes<\/span><\/a> University of North Carolina Associate Professor of Public Policy Rebecca J. Kreitzer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Kreitzer, the modern gender gap emerged during the 1980 presidential election and has steadily widened ever since. What was a relatively modest four-to-six-point difference in the 1980s grew to roughly 12-to-15 points in a majority of races by 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n Roosevelt Institute Suzanne Kahn <\/span>tied<\/span><\/a> the decline to women voting for \u201ctheir economic interests\u201d that Democrats have targeted through government programs and benefits.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>The two parties\u2019 increasing polarization around cultural issues might have been grabbing headlines, but women were looking at their wallets when deciding who to vote for, and one party was clearly doing more for them,\u201d Kahn wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The gender gap is amplified by another reality: women participate in elections at higher rates than men. According to Rutgers University’s <\/span>Center<\/span><\/a> for American Women and Politics, \u201cWomen have registered and voted at higher rates than men in every presidential election since 1980.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The DNC\u2019s recently released 2024 election autopsy <\/span>acknowledged<\/span><\/a> the party\u2019s struggles with male voters and concluded they required \u201cdirect engagement.\u201d <\/span>The report recommended that Democrats \u201cdeploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Grisham’s comments reflect a broader reality for Democrats. As women have become the party’s most reliable voting bloc, party strategists are searching for ways to attract men to their cause.<\/p>\n