LGBTQ voters in the four out of six New England states that have held Presidential primaries so far have exceeded a record-setting turnout among LGBTQ voters thus far across the country, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s March Voter Snapshot. (The statistics are based on voter polls documented on the Snapshot report.)
On Super Tuesday, for example, 9% of voters identified as LGBTQ—”double the LGBTQ population of 4.4% across the states,” according a March 9 HRC press release.
Topping those national numbers in New England, reports HRC:
In Massachusetts and Maine, 13% of primary voters identified as LGBTQ in both states, where 5.4% and 4.9% (respectively) among the states’ entire populations ID as LGBTQ.
In Vermont, 10% of all primary voters ID’d as LGBTQ in that state, where 5.2% of all residents are LGBTQ).
And a few weeks earlier in New Hampshire, 7% of all primary voters ID’d as LGBTQ, compared with 4.7% among all Granite Staters.
Rhode Island and Connecticut‘s primaries will be held on April 28, and we’ll be watching to see if the trend continues.
“LGBTQ voters have shown up in record numbers in states across the country and cemented our status as a crucial constituency to court,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “LGBTQ people and our allies are among the most politically engaged voters in the country, and Democratic presidential candidates are taking notice.”
The release goes on to say:
HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in six key states (Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) since the launch of our HRC Rising Program in 2017. Since then, HRC has had multiple staff on the ground in each state. In 2018, HRC made the most significant electoral investments in our history, mobilizing these Equality Voters to victories across all six targeted states winning five of six U.S. Senate races, four of six gubernatorial races, and flipping seven U.S. House seats in the six states alone.
Nationwide, there are an estimated minimum of 11 million LGBTQ voters — and millions more allies — who will play a decisive role in the 2020 elections. Using decades of HRC polling, membership information and other proprietary data, HRC worked with data-analytics firm Catalist to identify 57 million “Equality Voters” nationwide who prioritize LGBTQ-inclusive policies when making decisions about which candidates to support. In 2018, HRC utilized this data to mobilize “Equality Voters” in key races across the country and we succeeded. “Equality Voters” accounted for 29% of the 2018 electorate, making it one of the most substantial voting blocs in the election. Their turnout increased from 36% in the 2014 midterm elections to 56% in 2018, a dramatic increase that is expected to continue in 2020.
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