Joe Biden won a double-digit victory in the Arizona Primary beating Bernie Sanders by 11 points.  Arizona was one of three states holding its primary on March 17^th, in the midst of the Coronavirus health crisis.  Nevertheless, Democratic turnout was actually up from 2016 levels as many Arizonans voted in advance via mail or took precautionary measures to head out of their homes and to polling places.

Covid-19 also impacted Edison Research/National Election Pool who usually conducts the in-person exit polling used by news organizations, researchers and this blog to analyze who voted for whom.

Instead, some news organizations are using online and phone polling in the days leading up to the election.  The below is based on data provided by the New York Times (from surveys conducted for the Associated Press by NORC at the University in Chicago).  It is the best available estimate of voter demographics.

What do we know about the women of Arizona who voted in the Democratic primary ?

In terms of turnout, women made up a majority of Democratic primary voters – totaling 61% of the electorate.

2020 AZ DEM PRIMARY TURNOUT

Overall, Joe Biden won female Democratic primary voters with 44% compared to Sanders with 32%.

WOMEN SUPPORT

 

And what about the gender gap – how did women differ from men in who they supported?

The answer in Arizona is: not very much.  This marks the smallest gender gap seen in 2020 primary voting thus far.

AZ GENDER GAP

Note: Arizona did not hold a Republican presidential preference contest.